TAI Weekly

TAI Weekly | Who Makes the Fiscal Rules? Who Pays the Price?

By TAI (Role at TAI)
Captura de pantalla 2026-06-15 a las 18.13.08.png
TAI Weekly

June 06, 2026

Dear readers,

We start this week with a meta question: can we reconcile a habitable planet with high living standards for all, from India to France, from South Africa to Mexico? Authors of the new Global Justice report attempt to answer this and argues it is possible with fast decarbonization of energy systems, a shift toward sufficiency with shorter working hours, and a drastic reduction of inequality, in income, wealth and power, both between countries and within them.

You will find some related readings in this week’s Focus Topic on fiscal challenges. In the meantime, here is the latest research, news, tools, jobs and events on all things trust, accountability and inclusion related. Happy reading!

TAI team

What's New

A new compendium by CIVICUS and its Local Leadership Labs presents concrete prototypes for locally led development across five thematic areas: leadership and decision-making, resourcing, knowledge and learning, storytelling, and global solutions. "Local by Design" aims to turn a widely debated concept into actionable models for practitioners and funders.

A new policy note from the Paris Peace Forum examines G7 pathways for financing responsible mineral value chains, with implications for how extractive industries can be brought into alignment with human rights and environmental standards.

CLACSO and Acápacá have released, “International Cooperation in the Face of the Rise of Authoritarianism,” bringing together academic and grassroots voices to rethink alliances from a horizontal and decolonial perspective. The booklet, available in Spanish, systematizes discussions from a shared learning community on resistance and accompaniment in the current global context.

New research from the Australian Resilient Democracy Network maps civic engagement across the life course and identifies hot and cold spots that point to when and where targeted interventions are most likely to take hold.

More than 30 countries have come together under the Coalition of Governments on Global Public Investments to redesign the architecture of international cooperation finance, with a focus on building more equitable and sustainable models for the future.

In Hungary, the anti-corruption watchdog is to deploy artificial intelligence to trace more than €160 billion in public spending allegedly misallocated over sixteen years — a story about what happens when fiscal oversight is systematically hollowed out and what the cost of reconstruction looks like. 

The Defensoría del Pueblo and Open Society Foundations have published “Making Environment for Rights: the Escazú Agreement for Defenders of the Environment, Territory and Nature.” Developed as a practical and pedagogical tool, the book aims to support implementation of the Escazú Agreement and is available in Spanish.

A piece in The Conversation examines how Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rule has systematically weakened Turkey's judicial institutions and eroded the political opposition, offering an analysis of the long-term damage to democratic norms.

Open Ownership, the Global Coalition to Fight Financial Crime, and London Stock Exchange Group Risk Intelligence have released the final report of the Taskforce on Interoperable Beneficial Ownership Data. Developed with input from more than 50 experts, the report explores how connected ownership data can help combat cross-border financial crime. Additionally, two blogs showcase recent developments in beneficial ownership transparency in the Philippines and Nigeria.

The Stimson Center has released its Global Governance Innovation Report 2026, examining how to advance the Pact for the Future and build a more effective peace and security architecture in a period of institutional strain.

Beth Simone Noveck argues that universities should serve as laboratories for democratic problem-solving, working alongside communities on real-world challenges. In conversation with the University of Edinburgh's Oliver Escobar, she introduces the concept of “democratic AI,” contending that artificial intelligence should be evaluated not only on efficiency but on whether it expands participation and helps public institutions serve people better.

A new analysis by CONNECTAS takes stock of Peru's political landscape following recent elections, exploring the challenge of governing a country deeply divided along economic, geographic, and ideological lines.

HAVE YOUR SAY

The Taskforce on Inequality and Social-related Financial Disclosures (TISFD) has released the first draft version of its framework responding to growing recognition that inequality and wider people-related issues are shaping business performance, investment outcomes and the stability of economies and markets. By making these issues more visible, the TISFD framework aims to support better business decision-making, stronger investor insight and clearer accountability to stakeholders. Submit your comments on the draft by July 31st.

From Our Members

OPEN SOCIETY FOUNDATIONS: In a new article for Just Security, OSF's Sharan Srinivas warns that the growing demand for critical minerals is driving harmful extraction practices that threaten indigenous communities and environmental defenders. He calls for stronger, community-based protection mechanisms to support those advancing climate justice and human rights. Also, OSF's Pedro Abramovay has co-authored a new book with Gabriela Lotta, “Democracy on a Tightrope”.

HEWLETT FOUNDATION: In a recent episode of the Do One Better podcast, President Amber Miller discusses the growing role of artificial intelligence across the foundation's work. She points out key governance and security challenges and the importance of how societies choose to deploy the technology.

HUMANITY UNITED: Is searching for its next Chief Executive Officer. The application deadline is July 6.

ESSENTIAL READING:

In a recent interview recorded in the Dominican Republic, economist Roque Féliz and Tomás Lukin from the Global Alliance for Tax Justice discuss how current global tax rules have deepened inequality, with particular attention to harmful impacts across Latin America and the Caribbean. A summary is available in English; the full interview is in Spanish.

TOOLS AND TRENDS FOR FUNDERS

Kimberly Dasher Tripp and Alison Powell argue that funder collaboratives are philanthropy’s “most promising asset class” and that we must “build the infrastructure to maximize the opportunity collaboratives provide.”

A new Philea report brings together reflective pieces and concrete examples from foundations putting gender equality into practice. Rooted in Philea's Equality Framework, “Proven Practices in Gender Mainstreaming: Foundations in Conversation” offers practical guidance and lived experience to support funders ready to make progress in 2026.

Priya Shanker, executive director of the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, adds to the conversation about billionaire philanthropy with a call for wealthy donors to carefully weigh the trust and legitimacy that durable progress depends on. Writing in Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR), she argues the new gilded age needs civic leaders, not just philanthropists.

With the collapse of traditional government aid, this SSIR piece by N Hlaing and Jose Ravano argues that local organizations around the world urgently need infrastructure connecting them to private funding sources in ways that protect their missions and autonomy.

ESSENTIAL WATCHING:

The National Democratic Institute and the Embassy of Sweden in Lusaka have released a recording of their webinar on “Shifting the Landscape: Increasing Women's Political Representation and Fostering Male Champions,” a Zambia case study exploring what it takes to change the numbers and the culture around women in politics.

Focused Topic of the Week

Fiscal rules - who sets them, who obeys them and for whose benefit

Who bears the cost when fiscal systems fail and who gets to decide when they have been sufficiently repaired? Today’s readings highlight the importance of asking and trying to answer these questions. 

The OECD's new analysis of multijurisdictional bribery settlements and its separate warnings about the stalling of the digital tax Pillar One of the 2021 international tax agreement point to a gap between the normative consensus that cross-border economic coordination requires and the institutional reality of states that lack the legal frameworks, political will, or technical capacity to act on that consensus. Coordination looks elegant in communiqués; it fractures under the pressure of domestic politics and rival enforcement regimes.

Another case in point is tax subsidies which tend to persist due to political calculations trumping efficiency. In a new report, the World Bank attempts to offer evidence-based analysis and practical guidance to improve transparency, design, and implementation so that subsidies better support fiscal sustainability, productivity, poverty reduction, and job creation. 

Subsidy choices are just one element of domestic resource mobilization (DRM) strategies that are getting more attention following cuts in foreign assistance. Mark Green is among those making the case for DRM - “It means improving tax administration, strengthening public financial management, combating illicit financial flows, broadening the tax base, and ensuring that governments can finance essential services in a sustainable way.” However, these efforts take time and institutional capacity cannot be built on compressed donor timelines.

Thinking even bigger picture, leading economists and experts (over 400 of them) argue that poverty is not a residual condition waiting to be resolved by sufficient growth, but a structural outcome produced by the design of economic rules — including tax rules. This is not new as an analytical claim, but the timing and breadth of the coalition give it unusual weight. Their indictment covers extreme wealth concentration, underfunded public services, debt burdens, and the distortions of an international economic order that systematically advantages capital over labour and the Global North over the South.

Bonus: Read TAI´s own work on the importance of strengthening Fiscal Ecosystems for Accountability and Equity, with learnings from case studies of Brazil, Indonesia, and South Africa.

JOBS

CALLS

CALENDAR

We’d love to hear from you on how we can further improve TAI Weekly to better serve your needs in program management on the transparency, accountability, improved grantmaking and civic space. Please direct your feedback to [email protected] or

SUBSCRIBE TO TAI WEEKLY

Don't miss our latest publications Subscribe now to get our notifications