1/10 A thread about the link between human rights - fiscal policy (we are adding inequality)
It´s a short summary of an article written by @pedrolrossi, @SergioChaparro8 and me to WEA Commentaries --> bit.ly/2AT6xsq
Part of our effort to the Initiative @DHyPolFiscal
It´s a short summary of an article written by @pedrolrossi, @SergioChaparro8 and me to WEA Commentaries --> bit.ly/2AT6xsq
Part of our effort to the Initiative @DHyPolFiscal
2. There is an important economic dimension to human rights in terms of the resources needed to guarantee rights and how they can be socially allocated. On the other hand, human rights are, or should be, an important normative parameter for the organization of the economic system 
3. However, the fiscal implications of human rights obligations are not fully systematized and are not regularly considered. This "disconnection" has negative consequences, which are aggravated in contexts of instability or economic crisis and in face of fiscal austerity measures
4. The hierarchy that must exist between human rights and fiscal policy is the hierarchy between objective and instrument, between purpose and means. Therefore, fiscal policy needs to be adapted to human rights imperatives, not the other way around.
5. Far from establishing specific fiscal policies, human rights obligations set certain limits on States’ discretion when formulating such policies, including: protection of minimum core content, use of maximum available resources for the progressive realization of rights...
6. ...prohibition of retrogression on the achieved levels of rights enjoyment; non-discrimination; transparency, social participation and accountability.
7. Fiscal policy is a key tool for rights fulfillment and its classic functions should be reinterpreted with a view to achieving the full realization of human rights. On the distributive function of fiscal policy,, taxes should be levied according to a taxpayer's ability to pay.
8. On the allocative function, fiscal policy should create adequate incentives and provide public services to secure rights. Regarding the stabilizing function, fiscal policy can ease cycles and prevent crises that negatively impact on the enjoyment of human rights.
9. Still, the stabilizing function of fiscal policy can also be understood in terms of providing social stability. Governments can do so by seeking full employment and by financing strong social protection schemes that provide people social protection floors regardless of cycles.
10. Given a fixed amount of public resources, trade-offs will arise. However, the limits for public spending are often artificially defined. As shown by the Covid-19 crisis, governments can mobilize resources from different sources to address pressing social needs.
