Richard E. Wagner, Emeritus Professor of Economics, George Mason University, US

• Contents: Preface 1. Budgeting: The Elusive Quest for Fiscal Responsibility 2. Budgeting and Political Economy: A Theoretical Framework 3. Budget Deficits, Ricardian Equivalence, and Macro–Micro Supervenience 4. Property Rights, Societal Tectonics, and the Fiscal Commons 5. Parliamentary Assemblies as Peculiar Market Bazaars 6. Taxation, Fiscal Politics, and Political Pricing 7. Regulation as Alternative Taxation 8. Public Finance for a Constitution of Liberty Bibliography Index

Deficits, Debt, and Democracy is an important book which should hopefully shakeup public finance. Wagner's focus on the entanglement of politics and markets and on budgetary outcomes as the products of competition and spontaneous ordering on the fiscal commons is insightful. His framework provides plausible explanations for observed budgetary outcomes (e.g., persistent deficits) and casts serious doubt on continued efforts to correct them. It also injects a welcome degree of complexity to an area which for far too long has been treated as relatively easy to model. As such, it is a welcome addition to the literature, and presents a formidable challenge to those who would espouse the merits and conclusions of more traditional approaches.'--George R. Crowley, Review of Austrian Economics'With Wagner's book, we now have a theoretical ice pick to pierce through the obvious outcomes on the surface to get a glimpse at the processes behind it.'--Wolf von Laer, Journal of the History of Economic Thought'Richard Wagner's Deficits, Debt, and Democracy: Wrestling with Tragedy on the Fiscal Commons is essentially a sequel to his 2007 book, Fiscal Sociology and the Theory of Public Finance. . . Wagner's framework merits wide attention. Specialists in public choice or public nance should put both Deficits, Debt and Democracy and Fiscal Sociology at the top of their reading lists. Wagner's framework could shed light on a great many questions beyond public finance, leading one to hope that this book is but one sequel in an ongoing franchise.'--Adam Martin, Zentralblatt MATH

Richard E. Wagner, Emeritus Professor of Economics, George Mason University, US

• Contents: Preface 1. Budgeting: The Elusive Quest for Fiscal Responsibility 2. Budgeting and Political Economy: A Theoretical Framework 3. Budget Deficits, Ricardian Equivalence, and Macro–Micro Supervenience 4. Property Rights, Societal Tectonics, and the Fiscal Commons 5. Parliamentary Assemblies as Peculiar Market Bazaars 6. Taxation, Fiscal Politics, and Political Pricing 7. Regulation as Alternative Taxation 8. Public Finance for a Constitution of Liberty Bibliography Index

Deficits, Debt, and Democracy is an important book which should hopefully shakeup public finance. Wagner's focus on the entanglement of politics and markets and on budgetary outcomes as the products of competition and spontaneous ordering on the fiscal commons is insightful. His framework provides plausible explanations for observed budgetary outcomes (e.g., persistent deficits) and casts serious doubt on continued efforts to correct them. It also injects a welcome degree of complexity to an area which for far too long has been treated as relatively easy to model. As such, it is a welcome addition to the literature, and presents a formidable challenge to those who would espouse the merits and conclusions of more traditional approaches.'--George R. Crowley, Review of Austrian Economics'With Wagner's book, we now have a theoretical ice pick to pierce through the obvious outcomes on the surface to get a glimpse at the processes behind it.'--Wolf von Laer, Journal of the History of Economic Thought'Richard Wagner's Deficits, Debt, and Democracy: Wrestling with Tragedy on the Fiscal Commons is essentially a sequel to his 2007 book, Fiscal Sociology and the Theory of Public Finance. . . Wagner's framework merits wide attention. Specialists in public choice or public nance should put both Deficits, Debt and Democracy and Fiscal Sociology at the top of their reading lists. Wagner's framework could shed light on a great many questions beyond public finance, leading one to hope that this book is but one sequel in an ongoing franchise.'--Adam Martin, Zentralblatt MATH

Richard E. Wagner, Emeritus Professor of Economics, George Mason University, US

• Contents: Preface 1. Budgeting: The Elusive Quest for Fiscal Responsibility 2. Budgeting and Political Economy: A Theoretical Framework 3. Budget Deficits, Ricardian Equivalence, and Macro–Micro Supervenience 4. Property Rights, Societal Tectonics, and the Fiscal Commons 5. Parliamentary Assemblies as Peculiar Market Bazaars 6. Taxation, Fiscal Politics, and Political Pricing 7. Regulation as Alternative Taxation 8. Public Finance for a Constitution of Liberty Bibliography Index

Deficits, Debt, and Democracy is an important book which should hopefully shakeup public finance. Wagner's focus on the entanglement of politics and markets and on budgetary outcomes as the products of competition and spontaneous ordering on the fiscal commons is insightful. His framework provides plausible explanations for observed budgetary outcomes (e.g., persistent deficits) and casts serious doubt on continued efforts to correct them. It also injects a welcome degree of complexity to an area which for far too long has been treated as relatively easy to model. As such, it is a welcome addition to the literature, and presents a formidable challenge to those who would espouse the merits and conclusions of more traditional approaches.'--George R. Crowley, Review of Austrian Economics'With Wagner's book, we now have a theoretical ice pick to pierce through the obvious outcomes on the surface to get a glimpse at the processes behind it.'--Wolf von Laer, Journal of the History of Economic Thought'Richard Wagner's Deficits, Debt, and Democracy: Wrestling with Tragedy on the Fiscal Commons is essentially a sequel to his 2007 book, Fiscal Sociology and the Theory of Public Finance. . . Wagner's framework merits wide attention. Specialists in public choice or public nance should put both Deficits, Debt and Democracy and Fiscal Sociology at the top of their reading lists. Wagner's framework could shed light on a great many questions beyond public finance, leading one to hope that this book is but one sequel in an ongoing franchise.'--Adam Martin, Zentralblatt MATH