Where should tax fit into the post-2015 development settlement?

As readers from development agencies will know, a huge and complex process is currently underway to develop a new set of global ordering principles for international development, to replace the Millenium Development Goals, which expire in 2015. Over the weekend I was happy to be able to attend a conference organised by the United Nations Development Programme, which brought together mostly African activists and academics to discuss the thorny question of financing this agenda. It was held at the Pan-African Parliament, a strange place that looks like a high security warehouse just outside of Johannesburg.

I prepared two presentations, one with an overview of some issues involved with bringing tax more directly into the financing agenda, and one with some more ‘blue skies’ thinking. Here they are – I’m very interested in readers’ thoughts on them.