worldbank.org (18.09.2017) The current policy discussion on fiscal redistribution in low- and middle-income countries focuses on the power of fiscal policy to reduce inequality but less on the impact of fiscal policy on the standard of living of the poor. However, a new World Bank book—The Distributional Impact of Taxes and Transfers: Evidence from Eight Developing Countries—reveals that although fiscal systems are always equalizing, they often reduce the actual consumption of goods of the poor.