Public spending in the 20th century : a global perspective
"This book discusses the changing role of government finance in the 20th century. It documents the enormous increase in government spending in that century across all industrialized countries. However, the authors find that the growth of government spending over the past 35 years has not brought about much additional social and economic welfare. This suggests that public spending in industrialized countries could be much smaller than it is without sacrificing important policy objectives. For this to happen, governments need to refocus their role on setting the rules of the game. The study provides options for institutional and expenditure policy reform
Print Book, English, 2000
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2000
Book
xvi, 291 pages ; 24 cm
9780521662918, 9780521664103, 0521662915, 0521664101
42072096
Part I. The Growth of Government: A Historical Perspective: 1. The growth of government since 1870; 2. The composition of public expenditure; 3. Revenue, deficits, and public debt; Part II. Gains from the Growth of Public Expenditure: 4. Historical evidence on government performance; 5. The size of government and its performance; 6. The experience of the newly-industrialized economies; Part III. The Role of the State and Government Reform: 7. Rethinking the role of the state; 8. Fiscal rules and institutions; 9. Blueprint for public expenditure reduction; Part IV. Recent Countries' Experiences in Reforming the Government: 10. Recent reform experience; 11. Fiscal reform in the public debate; 12. The future of public spending.