Switzerland is often viewed as a federalist curiosity and a unique form of direct democracy. But this view does not provide a proper understanding of the country. A theory of Switzerland is necessary. A consideration of the initial, exogenous geographical situation of Swiss territory provides a...

Public Choice is the merger between political science and economics. In the introductory sections of this survey it is investigated what we can expect from the logic of public choice. How far is it able to produce consistent results? Is public choice consistent with liberty? What can be done to...

It is often disregarded that the euro is first of all a public good based on common institutions such the European Central Bank, the Governing Council and a network for executing transactions etc. Establishing a public good is fundamentally different from trade in private goods. A public good...

Eric Jones has found that excessive taxes were detrimental for pre-modern China's economic growth whereas moderate taxes were conducive for Europe's economic growth. This paper provides a political-economic answer to the question why these two tax systems came about. Taxation is only feasible...

Paul A. Samuelson taught that every society has to choose between butter and guns. Individuals have to make the Gossen test of utility equivalence. The authors of the recent Mirrlees Review seem to believe that they can avoid this choice by considering taxation only. But how can one decide on...

Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird ein einfaches Konzept einer föderalen Finanzverfassung für Deutschland vorgelegt.Die Finanzen der Gebietskörpershaften sollten nach dem Prinzip der institutionellen Kongruenz organisiert werden, d.h. so dass sich Nutznießer-, Entscheidungsträger- und...