People watch the opening ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games via television in Mangueira favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Aug. 5, 2016. Photo: Xinhua/SIPA USA/PA Images. All rights reserved
In this election year in Latin America, when it is possible that the tide will confirm its turn and may strengthen conservative forces, time is ripe to reflect on how progressive governments failed to reduce inequality during the virtuous decade of progressive governments throughout the region that managed to remove millions of citizens from extreme poverty.
But new measurements, no longer based on household surveys but on income tax declarations, have shown that the impacts of leftist governments in Latin America on income redistribution and wealth were less than assumed.
