Government versus Markets

An economist of international renown, Vito Tanzi served for 20 years as Director of the Fiscal Affairs Department of the International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC with which he was affiliated for nearly three decades. He also taught at George Washington and American Universities. Dr Tanzi is the author of 14 books, including Public Spending in the 20th Century: A Global Perspective (Cambridge University Press, 2000, with Ludger Schuknecht) and Inflation and the Personal Income Tax (Cambridge University Press, 1980) and he has edited 11 other titles with contributions. A former Undersecretary for Economics and Finance of the Italian Government, he was President of the International Institute of Public Finance (IIPF) from 1990 to 1994 and is the IIPF's Honorary President. Dr Tanzi is known for the Tanzi effect, or Olivera-Tanzi effect, which refers to the diminished real value of tax revenues in periods of high inflation due to collection lags. He has served as a consultant to the World Bank, the United Nations, the European Commission, the European Central Bank, the Organization of American States, the Inter-American Development Bank and the Stanford Research Institute. Dr Tanzi received his doctorate in economics from Harvard University in 1967. He holds five honorary degrees.

• Preface; Part I. Economic Role of State: 1. General introduction and main issues; Part II. Historical Review: 2. The role of the state in the pre World War Two period; 3. Forces that changed the role of the state; 4. Growth of public spending in the 20th century; 5. The role of the state in social protection: historical landmarks; 6. Globalization and public spending; Part III. Theoretical and Analytical Issues: 7. Theories of public sector behavior: taxonomy of government types; 8. Voluntary exchange and public choice theories; 9. The Nord European economic theory of fiscal policy; 10. Policy tools and government roles; Part IV. The Outcome of State Intervention: 11. Evaluating the impact of public spending on socio-economic indicators; 12. Social protection in the modern world: quantitative aspects; 13. The role of the state and economic performance in the Nordic countries; Part V. Reflections on The Role of the State in the Future: 14. The economic role of the state in the future: concluding observations.

'Vito Tanzi is one of the very top leading experts on fiscal policy and public policy, and this a must-read for anyone interested in how governments work in reality and how they should work in an ideal world.' Alberto Alesina, Harvard University