Walking up the down escalator : public investment and fiscal stability

Walking up the down escalator : public investment and fiscal stability
Author: William Easterly
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 38
Release: 2007
Genre: Accounting
ISBN:

Abstract: Fiscal adjustment becomes like walking up the down escalator when growth-promoting spending is cut so much as to lower growth and thus the present value of future tax revenues to a degree that more than offsets the improvement in the cash deficit. Although short-term cash flows matter, a preponderant focus on them encourages governments to invest too little. Cash flow targets also encourage governments to shift investment spending off budget, by seeking private investment in public projects-irrespective of its real fiscal or economic benefits. To evade the action of cash flow targets, some have suggested excluding from their scope certain investments (such as those undertaken by public enterprises deemed commercial or financed by multilaterals). These stopgap remedies might sometimes help protect investment, but they do not provide a satisfactory solution to the underlying problem. Governments can more effectively reduce the biases created by the focus on short-term cash flows by developing indicators of the long-term fiscal effects of their decisions, including accounting and economic measures of net worth, and where appropriate including such measures in fiscal targets or even fiscal rules, replacing the exclusive focus on liquidity and debt.

Defining the Government’s Debt and Deficit

Defining the Government’s Debt and Deficit
Author: Mr.Timothy C Irwin
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 36
Release: 2015-11-20
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1513537822

Although the budget deficit and the public debt feature prominently in political debate and economic research, there is no agreement about how they should be measured. They can be defined for different sets of public institutions, including the nested sets corresponding to central government, general government, and the public sector, and, for any definition of government, there are many measures of the debt and deficit, including those generated by four kinds of accounts (cash, financial, full accrual, and comprehensive), which can be derived from four nested sets of assets and liabilities. Each debt and deficit measure says something about public finances, but none tells the whole story. Each is also vulnerable to manipulation, and is likely to be manipulated if it is subject to a binding fiscal rule or target. Narrow definitions of government encourage the shifting of spending to entities outside the defined perimeter of government. Narrow definitions of debt and deficit encourage operations involving off-balance-sheets assets and liabilities, while broad measures are susceptible to the mismeasurement of on-balance-sheet assets and liabilities. Reviewing the literature on these issues, the paper concludes that governments should publish several measures of the debt and deficit in a form that clearly reveals their interrelationships.

Hollowed Out

Hollowed Out
Author: David Madland
Publisher: University of California Press
Total Pages: 270
Release: 2015-06-24
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0520286529

For the past several decades, politicians and economists thought that high levels of inequality were good for the economy. But because America’s middle class is now so weak, the US economy suffers from the kinds of problems that plague less-developed countries. As Hollowed Out explains, to have strong, sustainable growth, the economy needs to work for everyone and expand from the middle out. This new thinking has the potential to supplant trickle-down economics—the theory that was so wrong about inequality and our economy—and shape economic policymaking for generations.

The State and the Private Sector in Latin America

The State and the Private Sector in Latin America
Author: M. Font
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 318
Release: 2015-06-16
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1137015764

This book follows ten political economic histories since the 1970s, showing how different forms of partnership have developed, flourished or declined over the time. The author's argument is supported by rich empirical material. It places partnership schemes in a broader social context and provides a deep insight into the phenomenon.

Reflections on the Greek Sovereign Debt Crisis

Reflections on the Greek Sovereign Debt Crisis
Author: Aristidis Bitzenis
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Total Pages: 396
Release: 2014-09-26
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1443867837

The euro was generally considered a success in its first decade. Nevertheless, the “unanticipated” financial crisis in the summer of 2007 has developed gradually into the worst global economic crisis in post-war economic history and a sovereign debt crisis, calling into question the endurance of positive externalities under the current form of European economic integration. The experience of double-dip recessions in the core of the euro-area and the occurrence of a deflationary spiral in its southern periphery brings into question the wisdom of fiscal consolidation via austerity in the adjustment programmes adopted to exit the crisis. They also put into doubt the adequacy and efficiency of the European Economic and Monetary Union’s core elements, its political instruments and macroeconomic assumptions, as can be seen in the role of the Stability and Growth Pact and the stance of the European Central Bank. The title of this collective volume refers to the country where the European sovereign debt crisis began, while its contents concentrate on the extent to which this crisis should be a national or a European concern. Moreover, the focus on Greece stimulates discussion about the neglected factor of the shadow economy and the potential to boost government revenue through its successful transfer to the formal economy. The chapters address the inefficiencies of both euro-area institutions and policies adopted to exit the current predicament. Experts from several disciplines review the literature and critically evaluate the existence of issues such as contagion effects, domino effects, deflationary spirals, institutional efficiency and the reality of the option to exit the euro-area.

Rents to Riches?

Rents to Riches?
Author: Naazneen Barma
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 303
Release: 2011-12-08
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0821387162

This volume focuses on the political economy surrounding the detailed decisions that governments make at each step of the value chain for natural resource management. From the perspective of public interest or good governance, many resource-dependent developing countries pursue apparently short-sighted and sub-optimal policies in relation to the extraction and capture of resource rents, and to spending and savings from their resource endowments. This work contextualizes these micro-level choices and outcomes.

Promoting Inclusive Growth Challenges and Policies

Promoting Inclusive Growth Challenges and Policies
Author: OECD
Publisher: OECD Publishing
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2012-04-06
Genre:
ISBN: 9264168303

This volume discusses several policy challenges facing countries to achieve and sustain inclusive growth. The volume is based on the proceedings of a conference co-organised by the OECD Economics Department and the World Bank on 24-25 March 2011.

Globalization and Growth

Globalization and Growth
Author: Michael Spence
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 384
Release: 2010-04-02
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0821382217

The volume provides a comprehensive overview of the financial and economic crises of 2008-2009 and the economic and financial policy implications for growth in developing countries.

Walking Up the Down Escalator

Walking Up the Down Escalator
Author: William Easterly
Publisher:
Total Pages: 86
Release: 2007
Genre: Deficit financing
ISBN:

Fiscal adjustment becomes like walking up the down escalator when growth-promoting spending is cut so much as to lower growth and thus the present value of future tax revenues to a degree that more than offsets the improvement in the cash deficit. Although short-term cash flows matter, a preponderant focus on them encourages governments to invest too little. Cash flow targets also encourage governments to shift investment spending off budget, by seeking private investment in public projects-irrespective of its real fiscal or economic benefits. To evade the action of cash flow targets, some have suggested excluding from their scope certain investments (such as those undertaken by public enterprises deemed commercial or financed by multilaterals). These stopgap remedies might sometimes help protect investment, but they do not provide a satisfactory solution to the underlying problem. Governments can more effectively reduce the biases created by the focus on short-term cash flows by developing indicators of the long-term fiscal effects of their decisions, including accounting and economic measures of net worth, and where appropriate including such measures in fiscal targets or even fiscal rules, replacing the exclusive focus on liquidity and debt.

The Oxford Companion to the Economics of Africa

The Oxford Companion to the Economics of Africa
Author: Ernest Aryeetey
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 686
Release: 2012-01-19
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0199575975

This compendium of entries provides thematic and country perspectives to create a picture of the concerns of modern economics in Africa, with contributions from more than 100 leading economic analysts of Africa.