This book gives a new answer to the old question about the optimal degree of fiscal decentralization in a federal state. It shows that fiscal decentralization is a method to disclose the preferences of currently living and future generations for local public goods, to limit the size of the...

This book gives a new answer to the old question about the optimal degree of fiscal decentralization in a federal state. It shows that fiscal decentralization is a method to disclose the preferences of currently living and future generations for local public goods, to limit the size of the government, and to avoid excessive public debt finance. While the allocative branch of the government benefits from fiscal decentralization, it is difficult to obtain a distribution of incomes that differs from the outcome that the market brings along.

A collection of original essays by specialists in the field, this book examines some of the most crucial budgetary and financial management problems that face the United States government and makes concrete recommendations on how current processes can be improved. Topics include proposed revamping...

A collection of original essays by specialists in the field, this book examines some of the most crucial budgetary and financial management problems that face the United States government and makes concrete recommendations on how current processes can be improved. Topics include proposed revamping of a budget-making process that now leads to deadlock and ultimately to higher deficits, and the need for more accurate deficit forecasting, centralized financial management, improved information technology, and responsible bipartisan action at the highest level.

This volume presents a comprehensive history of the U.S. public debt from 1775 to the present. The authors document how the public debt has accumulated and review the methods the government has employed to manage and administer it. Their goal throughout is to put the current debt situation into...

This volume presents a comprehensive history of the U.S. public debt from 1775 to the present. The authors document how the public debt has accumulated and review the methods the government has employed to manage and administer it. Their goal throughout is to put the current debt situation into historical perspective, providing an objective evaluation of both the current levels of debt growth and the effectiveness of debt management policies and administration.

Does money make the world go round, as Cabaret's Master of Ceremonies sang to us? In The Cash Nexus, acclaimed historian Niall Ferguson offers a radical and surprising answer -- No.

Conventional wisdom has long claimed that economic change is the prime mover of political change, whether in the age of...

Does money make the world go round, as Cabaret's Master of Ceremonies sang to us? In The Cash Nexus, acclaimed historian Niall Ferguson offers a radical and surprising answer -- No.

Conventional wisdom has long claimed that economic change is the prime mover of political change, whether in the age of industry or the Internet. In our own time Paul Kennedy has claimed that economics provided the key to international power, while Francis Fukuyama and others have argued that capitalism doomed socialism and ensured the victory of democracy. Small wonder politicians are obsessed with the economy: the Clinton campaign motto -- "It's the economy stupid" -- sums up a central tenet of modern life.

But is it the economy? Ferguson thinks it is high time we re-examined the link -- the "nexus", to use Thomas Carlyle's term -- between economics and politics, in the aftermath not only of the failure of socialism but also of the apparent triumph of American-style capitalism. His central argument is that the conflicting impulses of sex, violence, and power are together more powerful than money. In particular, political events and institutions have often dominated economic development.

A bold synthesis of political history and modern economic theory, Cash Nexus will transform the landscape of modern history and draw challenging and unsettling conclusions about the prospects of both capitalism and democracy.

Public Sector Economics discusses the impact of government revenues and expenditures on economic activity, with special reference to developing countries. Howard raises theoretical and empirical issues relating to the role of the public sector in economic development.

The book is comprehensive in...

Public Sector Economics discusses the impact of government revenues and expenditures on economic activity, with special reference to developing countries. Howard raises theoretical and empirical issues relating to the role of the public sector in economic development.

The book is comprehensive in scope: topics include public goods, market failure, the role of government, public choice and political business cycles, public expenditure growth, structural adjustment and taxation.

In addition, the book raises issues that are neglected in traditional texts on the public sector, such as poverty alleviation, tax administration and the operation of the VAT in developing countries. The text is written in a style that is accessible to policy makers, practising economists and students interested in the role of government and the political economy of decision making.