Richard Musgrave in Colombia: The Art of Tax Reform in a Developing Country

Richard Musgrave's work in developing countries has received little historical scrutiny. At the twilight of the development decade, Musgrave chaired an important fiscal reform mission in Colombia, whose report later served as a roadmap for the 1974 Colombian tax reform. Drawing from archival and published sources, this paper reconstructs the intellectual baggage that Musgrave brought on his travels to Colombia. While tax principles have been invoked by reformers for centuries, Musgrave and his colleagues provided a new articulation of equity that reflected their liberal faith in the capacity of democratic governments to improve welfare through fair taxation. This liberal worldview was shaped by their experience of US policy since the New Deal, but the instruments adapted for developing countries differed.