The government of President Lula is trying to simplify Brazil’s anachronistic tax system and make it more progressive. But can this attempt to change the highly unequal country’s tax laws succeed where three decades of previous attempts have failed?
Brazil’s extreme inequality, which would be a cause of shame in any civilized country, is seemingly a source of pride for many politicians here. What matters for those at the top and those who dream of being there, is not reducing the gap but instead glamorizing it – so that individuals cease to want collective social justice and seek only their own place in the sun.
