Death and Taxes: The Political Economy of Ethiopian Revenue Reform
Persa Zula October 23rd, 2005
Warner, who has spent considerable time working and studying in Ethiopia during the past decade, will discuss the present revenue and governmental reform actions in that country today, particularly how the present state has been influenced by recent elections. Though the ruling party won the nationwide election in May by a small majority, it lost almost every major urban center. Charges of voting fraud began to emerge and culminated with a crackdown on student protesters, which left 36 dead on June 8. The end result was a bitterly contested outcome that left the ruling party with a slim majority, and hence a tenuous control of the government. The ruling party has now undertaken massive reforms before they leave many primary government posts in September.
“The current environment is to dramatically cut taxes in an effort to deny the incoming government fiscal resources for government projects,” said Warner. “In July, I witnessed firsthand the reforms that have cut tax burdens by as much as 83 percent to some of the wealthier taxpayers. The incoming opposition will ultimately be left with little money to undertake government operations, and the near future is bleak for such vital programs as elementary education and healthcare. My talk will focus on the problems associated with fledgling democracy and economic development from the perspective of a person directly involved in policy formulation.”
Warner, a member of Wooster’s faculty since 1999, earned a bachelor of arts degree from Bates College (1983), master of arts degrees from the University of California-Riverside (1985) and the University of New Hampshire (1992), and his Ph.D. from the University of Utah (1996). He specializes in macroeconomics, international economics, and economic development. He has worked, researched, and taught in most of East Africa. For the past three years, he has served as a consultant for a Swedish consulting firm on issues of fiscal decentralization in Amhara, Ethiopia. His current project, administered by Harvard University, is regional tax reform in Ethiopia.