Having It Both Ways: Can Latin American Spend More Money on Innovation and Reduce Income Inequality?

Abstract

This article examines if Latin American nations would be helped by a participatory budgeting scheme for science at a time when their traditional exports of commodities are facing low prices; there is a need for industrial diversification; and there are high private‐debt levels, persistent poverty and inequality, and fiscal problems. Attempting to solve these issues has threatened the progress of science and technology policies over the last decade in Latin America at a time when countries such as China, Korea, Israel, and Finland were becoming increasingly competitive in science and technology. The article further examines the political pressures and resource competition that science and technology funding faces in Latin America, showing how a participatory budgeting scheme for science would invest in technology startups, remove reliance on taxation for science and technology funding, manage risk, supplement the incomes of citizens, and grant funds for basic research in Latin America. Finally, the article shows how the scheme would facilitate cooperation between Latin American business, the international science community, the general public, and government through investing in rather than taxing technology startups, while making sure that the general public receives more of a share of the economic gains from scientific discoveries in Latin America.