Are resources allocated more efficiently through private ownership than through the public sector? The experiences of eleven newly privatised companies are examined to evaluate this hypothesis. With the Government's pro-privatization policies in place for over a decade, this is a prime time to evaluate theory versus reality.

Paul Goodman left his mark in a number of fields: he went from being known as a social critic and philosopher of the New Left to poet and literary critic to author of influential works on education (Compulsory Mis-education) and community planning (Communitas). Perhaps his most significant achievement was in his contribution to the founding and theoretical portion of the classic text Gestalt Therapy (with F. S. Perls and R. E. Hefferline, 1951), still regarded as the cornerstone of Gestalt practice.

Taylor Stoher's Here Now Next is the first scholarly account of the origins of Gestalt therapy, told from the point of view of its chief theoretician by a man who knew him well. Stoehr describes both Goodman's role in establishing the principal ideas of the Gestalt movement and the ways in which his practice as a therapist changed him, ultimately leading to a new vocation as the "socio-therapist" of the body politic. He places Goodman in the midst of his world, showing how his personal and public life - including his political activities in the 1960s - were transformed by Gestalt ideas, and he presents revealing sketches of other major figures from those days - Fritz Perls, Wilhelm Reich, A. S. Neill, and others.

There is no magic formula for balancing fiscal policy and economic performance. As a scholar and policy advisor, Vito Tanzi has made a major contribution to identifying links between public finance and macro- and microeconomic consequences. His findings bear relevance in both developing and industrialized economies. The essays in this volume and its companion, Fiscal Policy and Economic Reforms, highlight many of these interconnected issues, for instance the interaction between budgetary policy and economic aggregates, such as employment, inflation and growth, and the implication of economic linkages for designing fiscal policies. Further areas of interconnection include expenditure policies and alternative deficit financing strategies, and the trade-offs between macro- and microeconomic objectives. The list of contributors includes Max Corden, John Makin, Ronald McKinnon and Richard Musgrave.

Ecotaxation covers two distinct ideas. To date, it has largely been associated with the 'polluter pays' principle, in the form of correctional charges imposed on activities which have a demonstrably damaging effect on the quality of life or the environment. The other involves a more ambitious policy shift, aiming to put taxation onto a different basis, away from income and labour, and onto resource-depleting and environmentally damaging activities. By going further, and directing the additional revenue towards environmentally supportive and socially improving ends, it can be part of the fiscal basis for sustainable development. This volume explores the history of both ideas, but with more emphasis on the wider-ranging policy alternatives that ecotaxation represents. The contributors look at the mixed records of the correctional economic instruments which have been introduced, suggesting that unless they are integrated into a more comprehensive package of reforms, they are not likely to have much effect on the direction of an already unsustainable economy. On the other hand, taxation has the potential not only to stimulate sustainable forms of economic activity but also, by lowering the costs of work and employment, to create jobs and greater social justice. At a time when governments' room for manoeuvre is being more and more restricted by conflicting social, economic and environmental commitments and pressures, revenue-neutral ecotaxation has a crucial role to play in reconciling those objectives and putting policy onto a new and lasting footing.

This is a major study of state finance throughout Europe from the thirteenth to the eighteenth century. It is an immensely ambitious comparative analysis of economic and fiscal development over many countries and several centuries, written by a team of leading European scholars.

The Russian budget process has received little detailed attention in academic literature. Here various key aspects of the formation of the federal budget, largely since Vladimir Putin began his third presidential term in 2012, are examined. It is primarily the writing of the expenditure side of the budget which is described, that is, how it is decided how much money is spent on what. While ample information is provided on budgetary outcomes, the focus is on the process: the issues faced by budget makers, the actors and institutions involved, and the formal and informal procedures that lead to outcomes. It is not the task of the volume to provide an analysis of the wisdom or effectiveness of particular budget allocations; its goal is to provide some judgement on the effectiveness of the process. Chapters are offered on the budgetary process as it relates to the two main claimants on federal budget funding, the social and defence sectors. Three chapters then examine the major locations of budgetary policy-making: the executive (at presidential and cabinet of ministers levels), the Duma, and the expert community. This book was originally published as a special issue of Post-Communist Economies.

The debate regarding the increased funding of higher education has focused on specific issues - such as whether higher education should be financed through general taxation and the implications of collecting fees later in life through the use of a tax surcharge - while largely ignoring the important economic interdependencies which affect them.In The Economics of Higher Education, John Creedy explores the economic foundations of the debate and focuses attention on the process of government decision-making including the precise way that these decisions are affected by the possible external effects of higher education. This book addresses the key issues in the debate using a fully specified model which allows for dispersion of abilities, the individual's decision to invest in higher education and the government's choice of higher education grant, along with the government's budget constraint. This model is also used to consider the effects of alternative tax and grant systems on the distribution of lifetime income within a cohort of individuals, and is extended to allow for the general equilibrium effects of other social transfers to the low paid, along with means testing of grants. The non-technical introduction discusses the author's approach, the framework of analysis and the conclusions which he has reached. As a rigorous analytical contribution to a major public policy debate, this book will be welcomed by policymakers and educationalists, as well as by teachers and researchers in the field of public economics.

This book explores why, despite increased government spending on income-support, health and education, the costs of public goods are rising and their quality is declining. Charting the rise of big government, the author identifies a growing divergence between public-sector ideals and the realities of troubled political economies grappling with debt, deficits, ageing populations, improvident social insurance, declining education test scores and multiplying health costs. Limited Government analyzes in detail the social and political factors in major economies that drive up public spending, as well as the relationship between spending and outcomes. By developing an alternate model of public finances, and engaging in a critique of the managerial society, the author emphasizes the positive effects of self-management, social self-organization and technological automation, arguing that high-quality, low-cost goods are the result of nations that save, not states that tax. A sociological account of public finances, Limited Government outlines how governments can spend less and yet help ensure good broad equitable standards of health, education and income security.

T he generational wars are about to begin: competing for entitlements, wrestling over taxes, dancing around the deficit. Today's children and grandchildren are tomorrow's taxpayers and social fabric. The authors of Payment Due contend that our current policies of federal overspending are setting those children up for economic disaster. Former Representative Tim Penny (D-MN) knows how volatile the politics of the situation are; he retired because he couldn't locate in Congress at large the institutional will (or stomach) to deal with the issues squarely. Political scientist Steven Schier understands the way in which the politics work against economics to solve the problem. Together, they take us inside the Capitol corridors to show us the lobbying, arm-twisting, and pork barrel politicking that goes on to derail policies designed to reduce the federal deficit. We get to play the "Washington Monument game" along with the worst of the offenders and to see firsthand how three schools of deficit thought-the wolves, pussycats, and termites-approach the prospect of cutting back federal outlays and weaning the great middle class from its own welfare dependency. A hallmark of the book is its three-tiered set of long-term entitlement reform proposals, complete with careful documentation of the contribution each recommended item makes toward reducing the federal deficit (or at least slowing its increase). Along with suggested short-term plans, these proposals give students the opportunity to try to solve both short- and long-term problems. Students will appreciate the timeliness and relevance of the book's argument to their generation's future plight, and all readers will benefit from the clear presentation of complex economic concepts and arguments essential to understanding the federal deficit debate-and to confronting the political, social, and moral payments now coming due.

Do public goods and services, such as streets, parks and dams have to be provided by government? In Public Goods and Private Communities, Fred Foldvary's innovative application of public choice and spatial theory to questions of urban economics and governance shows how collective goods can be provided by agents in a market process.Rejecting the market-failure hypothesis, Dr Foldvary argues that an entrepreneur can provide collective goods by consensual community agreements. Instead of focusing particular services, as previous studies have done, this book concerns itself with entire private communities. A series of case studies demonstrates how real world communities, such as Walt Disney World, the Reston Association in Virginia and the private neighbourhoods of St Louis, are in fact financing their own public goods and services in accordance with this theory. For such communities to rise and prosper, the author contends, government must eliminate restrictions such as zoning as well as the taxation of private services. After considering the implications of his work for urban economies - at a time when many of America's cities are plagued by decay, violence and poverty - Dr Foldvary argues that prosperity can be restored to cities if private communities are allowed to develop. As an original response to an urgent, contemporary problem this well-written book will be welcomed by social scientists, policy makers and business leaders seeking solutions to problems of urban decay.

It is generally assumed that current deficits are intrinsically bad and in need of correction. The Current Account and Foreign Debt argues that this is not always the case. The author analyses a broad range of issues in support of this argument. These include:
* Approaches to current account balance
* Short run issues
* Longer run issues
* Policy

The book can be read as an integrated whole, or alternatively, each chapter can be consulted without reference to the others. The Current Account and Foreign Debt provides the counterbalance to a common misapprehension in economic theory. It will be a valuable guide for all those interested in international monetary theory.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203031040

The microeconomic foundation of the theory of money has long represented a puzzle to economic theory. Why is there Money? derives the foundations of monetary theory from advanced price theory in a mathematically precise family of trading post models. It has long been recognized that the fundamental theoretical analysis of a market economy is embodied in the Arrow-Debreu-Walras mathematical general equilibrium model, with one great deficiency: the analysis cannot accommodate money and financial institutions. In this groundbreaking book, Ross M. Starr addresses this problem directly, by expanding the Arrow-Debreu model to include a multiplicity of trading opportunities, with the resultant endogenous derivation of money as the carrier of value among them. This fundamental breakthrough is achieved while maintaining the Walrasian general equilibrium price-theoretic structure, augmented primarily by the introduction of separate bid and ask prices reflecting transaction costs. The result is foundations of monetary theory consistent with and derived from modern price theory. This fascinating book will provide a stimulating and thought-provoking read for academics and postgraduate students focusing on economics, macroeconomics, macroeconomic policy and finance, money and banking. Central bankers will also find much to interest them within this book. Contents: Introduction: Why is There No Money? 1. Why is There Money? 2. An Economy Without Money 3. The Trading Post Model 4. An Elementary Linear Example: Liquidity Creates Money 5. Absence of Double Coincidence of Wants is Essential to Monetization in a Linear Economy 6. Uniqueness of Money: Scale Economy and Network Externality 7. Monetization of General Equilibrium 8. Government-Issued Fiat Money 9. Efficient Structure of Exchange 10. Microfoundations of Jevons's Double Coincidence Condition 11. Commodity Money Equilibrium in a Convex Trading Post Economy 12. Efficiency of Commodity Money Equilibrium 13. Alternative Models 14. Conclusion and a Research Agenda Bibliography Index

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of asset price movement. It examines different aspects of stock return predictability, the interaction between stock return and dividend growth predictability, the relationship between stocks and bonds, and the resulting implications for asset price movement. By contributing to our understanding of the factors that cause price movement, this book will be of benefit to researchers, practitioners and policy makers alike.

Economists studying comparative economic systems have generally neglected the important question of taxation in socialist countries. This is somewhat surprising since taxation plays an important role in the regulation of economic activity in these countries. This book, first published in 1985, aims to restore the study of taxation to its rightful role in comparative economic studies. It stresses the importance of taxation and the state budget and argues that these are tools of economic policy which complement central economic planning.

These essays are a product of a co-operative research project between American and Taiwanese social scientists. Of particular interest is the chapter discussing a comparative study of industrial policy, productivity growth and structural change in manufacturing.

These essays are a product of a co-operative research project between American and Taiwanese social scientists. Of particular interest is the chapter discussing a comparative study of industrial policy, productivity growth and structural change in manufacturing.

`... the most convincing argument for the mixed economy that I have read in my lifetime ...' - Bernard Crick

`... path-breaking analysis of the links between the values of community and the imperatives of an advanced economy... exemplifies a tentative but unmistakable new paradigm... a subtle argument.' - London Review of Books

`...the book makes an interesting contribution to the emerging alternatives to the prevailing, New Right, ideology of the 1980's' - Robert Pyper, Talking Politics

`...must be read by the politicians partly for its exposition of a theory of a sensible mixed economy... even more valuable if read by accountants, bankers, economists and other specialists who, like the citizen, have one day to realise that the Whole is far, far more than the sum of the parts.' - Political Quarterly

`The most philosophical of the books reviewed, and the one which might in the long run have the greatest impact on our political thinking... [Boswell] takes the argument for what he calls `public cooperation' one stage further than all the others, in that he treats the quality of human relations in the economic field as not just a means to an end (eg high production or stopping wage inflation) but an end in itself.' - Long Range Planning

This set gathers together ten essential texts on Taxation. Covering the history of taxation from the seventeenth century to the modern day, these titles range over tax legislation, income taxes, taxation in communist countries, tax and government, and universal income.

The most comprehensive and ambitious effort I've seen to compile and discuss, in one resource, all of the issues and information about this crucial topic. Nonprofit executives, managers, legal counsel, and trustees all can benefit from this useful and informative book.
?J. David Seay, vice president, secretary, and counsel, United Hospital Fund
Bookman provides nonprofit leaders with a comprehensive examination of federal, state, and local laws affecting nonprofit organizations and recommAnds actions nonprofits can take to protect their organizations tax-exempt status.
Using case studies extensively, he explains such crucial matters as preparing for an IRS audit, reporting unrelated business income, responding to claims of unfair competition, and fighting challenges to nonprofits' property tax exemption.
Protecting Your Organization's Tax Exempt Status demonstrates how federal tax law applies to specific segments of the nonprofit sector. Discusses actual IRS audits of nonprofits, shows how nonprofits can develop positive community relations, and reviews congressional hearings on federal tax exemptions for nonprofits.

An account of the later years of Tsarism. Witte presents portraits of the statesmen around him, explains the problem of bringing the economy to a level commensurate with Russia's putative position as the greatest land power in the world and the effort to create a constitutional monarchy.

An account of the later years of Tsarism. Witte presents portraits of the statesmen around him, explains the problem of bringing the economy to a level commensurate with Russia's putative position as the greatest land power in the world and the effort to create a constitutional monarchy.

Today, states' ability to borrow private capital depends on stringent evaluations of their creditworthiness. While many presume that this has long been the case, Quentin Bruneau argues that it is a surprisingly recent phenomenon-the outcome of a pivotal shift in the social composition of financial markets. Investigating the financiers involved in lending capital to sovereigns over the past two centuries, Bruneau identifies profound changes in their identities, goals, and forms of knowledge. He shows how an old world made up of merchant banking families pursuing both profit and status gradually gave way to a new one dominated by large companies, such as joint stock banks and credit rating agencies, exclusively pursuing profit. Lacking the web of personal ties to sovereigns across the world that their established rivals possessed, these financial institutions began relying on a different form of knowledge created to describe and compare states through quantifiable data: statistics. Over the course of this epochal shift, which only came to an end a few decades ago, financial markets thus reconceptualized states. Instead of a set of individuals to be known in person, they became numbers on a page. Raising new questions about the history of sovereign lending, this book illuminates the nature of the relationship between states and financial markets today-and suggests that it may be on the cusp of another major transformation.

First Published in 1993. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Peter Dickson's important study of the origins and development of the system of public borrowing which enabled Great Britain to emerge as a world power in the eighteenth century has long been out of print. The present print-on-demand volume reprints the book in the 1993 version published by Gregg Revivals, which made significant alterations to the 1967 original. These included a new introduction reviewing recent work, and, in particular, 33 pages of detailed annotations and corrections, which, taken together, justified its status as a second edition.

This book offers an intellectual history of the libertarian case for markets in education. Currie-Knight tracks the diverse and evolving arguments libertarians have made, with each chapter devoted to a different libertarian thinker, their reasoning and their impact. What are the issues libertarians have had with state-controlled public schooling? What have been the libertarian voices on the benefits of markets in education? How have these thinkers interacted with law and policy? All of these questions are considered in this important text for those interested in debates over market mechanisms in education and those who are keen to understand how those arguments have changed over time.