The paper argues that international differences in fiscal conditions influence the relative attractiveness of locating production facilities in different countries and could prove to be a troublesome source of instability for the European economies. Even though physical capital movements tend to...

The issue of whether constraints should be placed on fiscal policies when moving to European monetary union is examined in the context of the use of fiscal policy for macroeconomic stabilization purposes. Examples of shocks hitting French and German economies are considered: an appreciation of...

The U.S. national savings rate has declined in the 1980s, with both public and private components falling. This paper discusses that decline and whether a policy response is needed. The drop in the private savings rate appears to reflect factors not easily reversible by policy and increases in...

While federal credit programs are varied in form, their fiscal and economic effects arise primarily from the same source—each program’s subsidy component. Recent credit reform proposals would make control of credit subsidies the primary focus of budgetary efforts. By subjecting these...

This paper reviews the pros and cons of institutionalized constraints limiting the freedom of national budgetary policies within an Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in Europe. The issue is approached from three angles: the influence of EMU on (i) budget discipline; (ii) intergenerational equity...

This paper develops a political-economy model of the budget process focusing on the common pool problem of the public budget. We show that the externality arising from the fact that public spending tends to be targeted at individual groups in society while the tax burden is widely dispersed...

The paper analyzes the bearing of Islamic teachings on the conduct of fiscal policy. It is shown that Islamic teachings do not prescribe any rigid system of public finance. The major emphasis is on the state’s responsibility to assure at least a basic minimum standard of living for all...