Interesting op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal:  Costa Rican Poverty Fighter, by Mary Anastasia O’Grady:

Immediately after President-elect Oscar Arias takes office in Costa Rica on Monday, he will have an historic opportunity to help bring his country into 21st-century competitiveness. The choice? Whether to adopt a national flat tax on corporate and individual income….

The concept is anathema to Costa Rica’s hard left, which is crying foul on grounds that a single, low rate is unjust: Under a flat tax the rich don’t pay their fair share and it leads to profits — a dirty word to Latin socialists — for business. Yet the flat tax has already proved an effective way to fight poverty in a host of developing countries. (See nearby table.) For individuals, tax evasion goes down and tax collection goes up because of better compliance. Low corporate rates attract capital, spurring economic growth and job creation. That means there is more money in government coffers to help the needy. Without a laundry list of tax exemptions and loopholes, corruption is thwarted.