This wide-ranging, up-to-date and detailed account of all aspects of public economics covers topics as varied as:

* classical theorems of welfare economics
* the theory of public expenditure
* the effects of taxation on savings, labour supply investment and risk-taking
* commodity, income and expenditure taxation
* public sector and cost-benefit analysis
* fiscal federalism.

Written by Raghbendra Jha, an author with an established reputation, this book fills the gap in literature on this topic and will be a valuable reference for undergraduates in the fields of economics and public finance.

Modern Public Economics covers this popular subject area in an accessible and user-friendly way. Topics are coherently explored and include welfare economics, taxation theory, applied problems in public economics and fiscal federalism. All results are explicitly derived, making analysis of topics much clearer for students. The book also interweaves topics from the frontiers of research, giving students a basis from which to participate in contemporary discussions. This book will be of great use to advanced undergraduates and also postgraduates in Public Economics.

Talk about government cutbacks is as common as actual program elimination is rare. Even the most ardent proponents of downsizing government are reluctant to name the programs they have in their sights.

This short and very readable book examines why and when policies or organizations are terminated, how they can be terminated successfully, and what often prevents them from being terminated. The author reviews the literature on termination and a variety of case studies in order to identify the theories of termination that have been supported by research. He advances seven conclusions about program terminations that should be taped to the refrigerator of every social scientist, citizen, and public official committed to achieving a balanced budget by 2002.

Talk about government cutbacks is as common as actual program elimination is rare. Even the most ardent proponents of downsizing government are reluctant to name the programs they have in their sights.

This short and very readable book examines why and when policies or organizations are terminated, how they can be terminated successfully, and what often prevents them from being terminated. The author reviews the literature on termination and a variety of case studies in order to identify the theories of termination that have been supported by research. He advances seven conclusions about program terminations that should be taped to the refrigerator of every social scientist, citizen, and public official committed to achieving a balanced budget by 2002.

Compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the CPI is used to index Social Security payments and many other federal programs, as well as to adjust tax brackets. Today, the accuracy of the CPI is being hotly debated, particularly in light of the Boskin Commission report that concluded in December 1996 that the CPI overstates inflation by 1.1%. If accepted and applied in the formulation of economic policy, the report would have major implications for balancing the federal budget. It would have a direct impact on the lives of Americans who are beneficiaries of government programs as well as on everyone who pays taxes. In this book, Dean Baker introduces and explains the significance of the debate, presents the full text of the Boskin Commission report and finally discusses in a far-reaching and insightful analysis both the Commission's research methodology and its conclusions.

This text clarifies and consolidates existing knowledge about the development of the Treasury's role in public policy making. The book focuses on three main areas: the development of the Treasury from earliest times to the present, giving special attention to the last 25 years; the Treasury's current structure and organization at both ministerial and official level, including the radical changes that were introduced in 1995 as a result of the 1994 Fundamental Expenditure Review; the Treasury's role in the financing and responsibility of Next Steps Agencies, including brief case studies of the Civil Service College, the Contributions Agency and the Royal Mint. The structure and organization of the Treasury was radically changed in 1995 following a new statement of its aim, mission and objectives. These changes are explained here, with details of its new directorate and team structure.

This study explores the formation of the European Union's tax policy and asks why member states did not raise objections to it. Firstly, it examines the "Europeanization" of domestic tax policy in Italy and the UK, asking how domestic policy has changed and what is meant by "Europeanization". Secondly it puts the European Union tax policy in the wider context of tax globalization. Will the liberalization of capital movement, tax havens and the flexibility of multinationals in managing their taxable incomes wreck the European Union's fragile tax policies? In addressing these issues the study finds that knowledge is one of the most important resources in the European corporate tax process. It highlights the political problems raised by the search for rules, principles and appropriate levels of tax co-ordination and concludes that the European Union should re-consider its tax policy with new arguments.

This book brings together a rich selection of up-to-date practical experience of EU regional policy from across Europe. It provides different perspectives on the design and operation of regional development strategies under the Structural Funds, from people closely involved in studying, managing or advising on the process at EU, national and regional levels. It therefore offers a more comprehensive and detailed understanding of the structural policies than has been available hitherto. This will prove particularly useful to researchers, practitioners and students interested in European regional policies and processes.

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.

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.

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.

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 third edition of a successful textbook that provides a contemporary account of how social services in the UK are paid for. The new edition brings the textbook up-to-date with its fast-moving subject area, explaining the finance of human services - health care, education, housing, social security a nd social care-through a review of the economic literature. It also gives an account of how the cash to pay for the services actually reaches schools, hospitals and social service departments, right from the start of the process, examining how government raises taxes, through to allocation of the funds. Both comprehensive and expertly written, this textbook will continue to feature as key reading for a variety of Social and Policy related courses.

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.

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

Studies of the recent financial crisis have been largely dominated by economists, but the similarities and differences between European countries' response reflect both economic and political perspectives which have resulted in considerable differences in their decisions. Drawing on uniquely comprehensive research data, this book presents an in-depth comparative analysis of how 14 European governments tackled the challenge of fiscal consolidation, and analyses the political decision-making behind these measures. By exploring national responses not just in fiscal terms, but also from a political perspective, it reveals that decision making has been driven by political factors with profound effects on public administration and management. This ground-breaking book fills an important gap in the research literature for scholars of public management, public administration and policy, and will be a benchmark for future work on the global economic crisis.

The Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) is facing an existential crisis. It is ideologically exhausted, economically and morally bankrupt, increasingly unpopular with its own people, isolated, and friendless abroad. It is engaged in a struggle for survival. Nevertheless, as of the mid-1990s, Iran's weaknesses and turmoil have elicited little commentary from the outside world. Ahmed Hashim examines the acute threats and severe problems fading the rulers of Iran in the 1990s. He argues that the IRI entered the latter half of the 1990s faced with a conjunction of acute pressures threatening its political legitimacy, domestic stability, and national security.

First published in 1991. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

`... 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

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.

This book, first published in 1967, explores some of the problems formulating investment criteria for the public sector of a mixed-enterprise, underdeveloped economy. The typical essay on public investment criteria explicitly or implicitly postulates a single goal for economic analysis - maximization of weighted average of national income over time - and relegates all other objectives of public policy to a limbo of "political" and "social" objectives not amenable to systematic, rational treatment. In contrast Professor Marglin assumes a multiplicity of objectives and explores ways and means of expressing contributions to different objectives in common terms. The book also investigates the relationship of specific investment criteria to the objectives of public policy. Benefits and costs are defined separately for each objective, as are so-called "secondary" benefits. This book is suited for students of economics.

The role of fiscal policy in short-run macroeconomic stabilization is, by now, well known in the academic literature and in policy circles. However, this focus on the short-run, especially in a democracy, means that much less attention has been paid to the other consequences of the use of fiscal policy. By studying the intergenerational-welfare aspects of fiscal policy, this book deals with some fundamental issues of fiscal policy. Why does public debt tend to rise over time in democracies? Why is there a tendency for government spending on consumption and on social security to grow? Why do governments fail to invest in public capital adequately? Should a dollar transferred from the young be treated as a dollar transferred to the old? By studying the international aspects of fiscal policy, the book establishes international differences in fiscal policy as determinants of persistent trade imbalances and international indebtedness. It also considers some basic questions on international transfers and austerity in open economies. What criteria should be used to define a successful foreign-aid programme? Why is foreign aid likely to fail in a world of global wealth disparity? Can reliance be placed on the international coordination of austerity to improve welfare in the long run? Is austerity accompanied by international transfers superior to austerity unaccompanied by international transfers? This book based on the OLG model fills a gap on fiscal-policy issues in the recent spate of books on overlapping generations.

Money's Fiscal Dictionary details information about fiscal terms in encyclopaedic format in relation to British industry in 1910 when originally published. This text originally began as a column in The Morning Leader but was expanded upon to present this information in a more accessible and convenient way. This title will be of interest to students of Business and Economics.