Public Spending and the Role of the State
History, Performance, Risk and Remedies

Up-to-date, holistic and comprehensive discussion of public expenditure, its history, value for money, risks and remedies.

Ludger Schuknecht (Author)

9781108791700, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 12 November 2020

260 pages
15 x 23 x 2 cm, 0.48 kg

'This book could be a useful source of readings for a course on public finance, and provides well-summarised data on public expenditure for political economy and similar studies.' Mark Fabian, Economic Record

Given high government spending, debt and the new challenges on the horizon, the themes of this work are more relevant than ever: the essential tool of spending by the state, its 'value for money', likely risks in the future, and the remedies to create lean, efficient and sustainable government. This book takes a holistic and international approach, covering most advanced countries, and discusses a historical overview of public expenditure, from the nineteenth century to the modern day, as well as future challenges. It sees the government's role as providing sound rules of the game and essential public goods and services. In presenting the relevant arguments, information and policy recommendations through comprehensive tables, charts and historical facts, the book addresses a broad readership, including students, professionals and interested members of the public.

Introduction
Part I. The Growth of Government: 1. The Growth of Government Expenditure Over the Past 150 Years
2. The Composition of Expenditure
3. Financing Government
Part II. Value for Money: 4. Government Performance and Efficiency
5. Reforming Public Expenditure
6. The Optimal Size of Government
Part III. Fiscal Risks: 7. Social Expenditure and the Risk of 'Social Dominance'
8. Fiscal–Financial Risks 1: Interest Rate, Asset Markets and Real Economy Channels
9. Fiscal–Financial Risks 2: Bank, Shadow Bank, Central Bank and International Channels
Part IV. Remedies: 10. Rules and Institutions
11. Conclusions and Epilogue
Table of Data Sources
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Business studies: general [KJB], Monetary economics [KCBM], Macroeconomics [KCB], Economics [KC]