Public Spending and the Role of the State

Ludger Schuknecht is co-author of Public Spending in the 20th Century (2000), previously working as Deputy Secretary General of the OECD and Chief Economist of the German Federal Ministry of Finance.

• Introduction; Part I. The Growth of Government: 1. The Growth of Government Expenditure Over the Past 150 Years; 2. The Composition of Expenditure; 3. Financing Government; Part II. Value for Money: 4. Government Performance and Efficiency; 5. Reforming Public Expenditure; 6. The Optimal Size of Government; Part III. Fiscal Risks: 7. Social Expenditure and the Risk of 'Social Dominance'; 8. Fiscal–Financial Risks 1: Interest Rate, Asset Markets and Real Economy Channels; 9. Fiscal–Financial Risks 2: Bank, Shadow Bank, Central Bank and International Channels; Part IV. Remedies: 10. Rules and Institutions; 11. Conclusions and Epilogue; Table of Data Sources; Bibliography; Index.

'Ludger Schuknecht has provided a forceful and forensic examination of longer-term trends in the development of the fiscal state, coupled with a judicious survey of different measures for assessing the effectiveness of expenditure. The appeal for a rules-based approach, and the warning on the long-term consequences of higher debt levels, is more important than ever.' Harold James, Princeton University