State governments, congressional delegations, and regional associations regularly examine federal expenditures to see how their state or region is faring in the distribution of federal monies. Although these groups often look at changes in the patterns of annual spending, a long-term perspective...

Keith Sill examines the theory and evidence on the link between fiscal and monetary policy and, thus, between deficits and inflation. Sill concludes that whether deficits lead to inflation depends on the extent to which a country’s monetary policy is independent.