Principles and Practices of Fiscal Autonomy: Experiences, Debates and Prospects (Federalism Studies)

This century has seen the continuation of long-term trends in the movement of the territorial boundaries of nation states alongside the emergence of new tensions. The repercussions of the Scottish referendum and the heightened urgency of the Catalonia question along with the continued economic problems faced by the Eurozone have given new energy and context to debates on institutional and fiscal autonomy. Assessing the impact of increasing calls for wider fiscal autonomy in the UK, Spain, Switzerland, Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Italy and the USA this volume updates and adds significant new context to the debate. Framing the discussion on fiscal autonomy and drawing out ethical considerations it portrays the problems connected with the devolution of responsibilities and financial resources to sections of the population, sometimes content to be part of a lower layer of government, sometimes aspiring to an asymmetrical position or total independence.

Giancarlo Pola is currently President of Éupolis Lombardia, Regional Institute for Research, Training and Statistics (Lombardy, Italy). PhD in Economics in 1972 (University of York), Giancarlo Pola has been full professor of Public Finance at the University of Ferrara since 1981, and has also been adjoint professor of Public Economics at the Catholic University and Bicocca University in Milan. His main fields of interest have always been local finances and fiscal federalism. He has been member of Italy's Central Institutions like Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, Technical Commission for Public Finance and Parithetical Commission for the Implementation of Fiscal Federalism. His publications include contributions to Italian Journals like Rivista internazionale di Scienze sociali, to various annual Reports on local finance and also to internationally edited books.