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Curbing Public Expenditure: Current Trends

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Daniel Tarschys
Daniel Tarschys
Affiliation:
Uppsala University
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Abstract

Nearly every OECD country has faced a scissors crisis in public finance since the worldwide depression of the mid-1970s; in slow growth economies public spending has been rising faster than tax revenues. In response, a great variety of methods have been employed to control public spending. Governments have sought to: impose global ceilings on spending; modify indexation rules; decentralize decremental decisions among government agencies; improve cash flow management; devise balanced packages; introduce new constitutional rules; provide incentives for retrenchment; and privatize public sector activities. Efforts to impose cuts in spending have been directed at the bureaucracy; transfer payments; subsidies; local and regional government; and quangos. The conclusion emphasizes that retrenchment policy presupposes a shift in the balance of power between guardians and spenders.

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Articles
Information
Journal of Public Policy , Volume 5 , Issue 1 , February 1985 , pp. 23 - 67
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

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