Peasants versus City-Dwellers: Taxation and the Burden of Economic Development

In this book Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz and co-author Raaj Sah address one of development's major issues. During the early phases of economic development, there are often serious conflicts between the interests of town and country. The Corn Law Debate in England, the economic conflicts between the North and the South prior to the US Civil War, and the Soviet Industrialization Debate are among the historical examples. Most of today's countries face town versus country tensions of increasing …