Description
Book SynopsisRichard Musgrave is one of the most eminent public finance economists of our time. In this third volume of essays, Professor Musgrave once more takes a broad view of fiscal institutions, their nature and functions.
Traditions of fiscal theory and their impact on the author's work are discussed and their linkage to theories of the state and of distributive justice are examined. Selected topics include: the foundations of public finance, equity in taxation, tax reform, federalism and budget growth.
Public Finance in a Democratic Society will be of interest to scholars and students of public finance, political economy and public policy.
Trade Review'Richard Musgrave is arguably the leading public finance scholar of his generation. This book is a testament to his outstanding contribution to his discipline. Its 28 chapters reproduce selected conference papers, journal articles, essays, and commentaries by Musgrave that have been published over his long and distinguished career. . . The smooth prose and compelling content of the chapters are imbued throughout with Musgrave's deep and passionate commitment to the institutions of the liberal welfare state.' -- Tim Edgar, Canadian Tax Journal
Table of ContentsContents: Preface Part I: Foundations 1. The Role of the State in Fiscal Theory 2. Crossing Traditions 3. Public Finance and Finanzwissenschaft Traditions Compared 4. Combining and Separating Fiscal Choices: Wicksell’s Model at its Centennial 5. Social Science, Ethics, and the Role of the Public Sector 6. Tableau Fiscale 7. Merit Goods Part II: Equity in Taxation 8. Public Finance and Distributive Justice 9. The Nature of Horizontal Equity and the Principle of Broad-Based Taxation: A Friendly Critique 10. Social Contract, Taxation and the Standing of Deadweight Loss 11. Horizontal Equity, Once More 12. Horizontal Equity: A Further Note 13. Tax Equity with Multiple Jurisdictions (with Peggy B. Musgrave) 14. Pigou on Taxation Part III: Multiple Jurisdictions 15. Federalism, Grants and Fiscal Equalization (with Peter Mieszkowski) 16. Who Should Tax, Where and What? 17. Inter-nation Equity (with Peggy B. Musgrave) 18. Devolution, Grants and Fiscal Competition Part IV: Budget Growth 19. When is the Public Sector too Large? 20. Excess Bias and the Nature of Budget Growth 21. Fiscal Churning (with Peggy B. Musgrave) 22. Fiscal Functions of the Public Sector 23. Reconsidering the Fiscal Role of Government 24. The Longer View 25. Comments on James M. Buchanan ‘The Fiscal Crisis in Welfare Democracies’ Part V: Tax Reform 26. Clarifying Tax Reform 27. Tax Reform in Developing Countries 28. Micro and Macro Aspects of Fiscal Policy Index
