South-American Brahmins: Top Personal Wealth in 20th Century Peruvian Capitalism

Historically, South American elites have been concerned with economic modernization, assuming that economic growth would directly lead to increased profitability. For this reason, they have often opposed progressive taxation and redistribution. In contrast to the policy recommendations prepared by international technical missions addressing the Peruvian taxation system, Peruvian technocrats historically advocated reducing the “tax burden” and eliminating the inheritance tax as a means of promoting economic development. These arguments were articulated both in ideological terms and in concrete policy proposals.

To shed light on this opposition to progressive taxation in a South American country such as Peru, this research aims to provide a quantitative assessment of the persistence of regressive taxation and its relationship to wealth inequality and the economic power of elites. To achieve this goal, the project proposes constructing new series on personal wealth concentration in Lima and Peru from 1916 to 1979. Relying on records of both urban and rural property taxes, as well as inheritance and gift tax returns, the project will produce a unique and highly granular database on property and wealth statistics, potentially the most comprehensive historical dataset of its kind ever assembled for a South American country.