Public Finance and Public Policy: Responsibilities and Limitations of Government - Hardcover

Hillman, Arye L.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521806410 ISBN 13: 9780521806411

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2003

Synopsis

This book sets forth the basic issues involved in public finance and public policy. All issues investigated explore the choice between voluntary market decision to earn and spend income versus assignment of responsibility to governments to tax and spend. The ten specific areas covered are markets and property, collective benefits, voting on public speaking, market corrections, social justice, political processes and redistribution, taxation, user pricing, public policy for welfare issues, and the question of how much government is needed in the modern state.

About this title

About the Author

Arye L. Hillman is William Gittes Professor of Economics at Bar-Ilan University in Israel. He has taught at Princeton University and UCLA and has been a guest lecturer at universities around the world. Professor Hillman received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania. His professional papers include research under the auspices of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. He is a former president of the European Public Choice Society. Professor Hillman was jointly awarded the Max Planck Prize in Economics for his contributions to political economy.

Review

"Arye Hillman's new undergraduate text provides a strikingly rich, thoughtful, thought-provoking, and unusually comprehensive overview of academic thinking about the role of government in the economy, (emphasizing the role of political institutions in shaping how governments behave, and the resulting trade-offs between private and public provision). Arye has managed to capture many of the latest ideas in a way that still remains eminently accessible to undergraduate students. It is a delight to read." Roger Gordon, University of California, San Diego

"Hillman's remarkable text breaks new ground in integrating traditional public finance with recent developments in public choice and political economy. In a balanced and impartial way, the book introduces the student not just to the principles of taxation and government expenditure but also to deeper questions posed by the nature of social justice, the efficacy and drawbacks of market and governmental solutions, the operation of bureaucracies, rent-seeking behavior, and political competition." Jack Hirshleifer, University of California, Los Angeles

"This book offers a sophisticated and comprehensive treatment of questions involving when and why politics arises, how politics can be predicted to work in practice, and how limits can be placed on political excesses. A well-informed, well-written treatise useful for several levels of readership." James M. Buchanan, Nobel Laureate, George Mason University

"This book is a blast of fresh air in the teaching of public finance. Arye Hillman has managed to provide a balanced account of the limitations of the market and the government, leading to a rigorous analysis of appropriate divisions of labor between the two. Teachers and students will benefit from this major achievement for many years to come, making this book a classic." Dennis Snower, Birkbeck College, University of London

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0521806410
• ISBN 13: 9780521806411
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 780