Public Finance in a Democratic Society

Book excerpt: Collects 28 reprinted essays written by Musgrave (political economy, emeritus, Harvard U. and economics, U. of California-Santa Cruz) dating as far back as 1972 but primarily written in the late 1990s. The initial essays address the larger picture of the nature and function of fiscal institutions, drawing on fiscal thought represented by German Finanzwissenschaft, Wicksell's Scandinavian model, and the utilitarian base of the British model and its Pigouvian synthesis of equitable and efficient taxation. Next, aspects of tax equity and distributive justice are covered. Considerations of fiscal issues posed by the spatial and vertical organization of the state are also presented, followed by treatment of budget growth and the popular claim that budgets tend to be too large. Essays in the concluding section focus on the ever-present problem of tax reform, particularly the norms of "good" policy and how it can best be reached in practice. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR