The politics of budgetary surplus / Scott Brenton.

Author
Brenton, Scott [Browse]
Format
Book
Language
English
Published/​Created
  • London : Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature, [2016]
  • ©2016
Description
xv, 198 pages ; 22 cm

Availability

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Firestone Library - Stacks HJ141 .B74 2016 Browse related items Request

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    Subject(s)
    Summary note
    This book probes the hollow rhetoric of debt, deficits and austerity. It explores the decisions of parties of the left which have attempted to deflect criticisms of economic mismanagement and gain trust by depoliticising the budget process and financial management with various rules, albeit with elements of discretion. The book argues that this is a perverse form of trust as it is premised on the belief that political leaders and the public sector cannot be trusted to make appropriate decisions given the economic circumstances of the time and need rules, but at the same time that they can be trusted to follow the rules. The book also explores parties of the right, which often advocate stricter rules and which tend to be the least effective. The book describes how few conservative governments have admirable records on sustained surpluses, given a propensity for unsustainable tax cuts, and the future opportunities this provides to advance a political program of deeper spending cuts.
    Notes
    Subtitle from cover.
    Bibliographic references
    Includes bibliographical references and index.
    Contents
    • The path towards surplus
    • Political strategies
    • Types of fiscal rules
    • Types of expenditure cuts
    • The effects on public management
    • The global financial crisis and beyond
    • Epilogue.
    ISBN
    • 9781137585967 (hardcover)
    • 113758596X (hardcover)
    LCCN
    2016955055
    OCLC
    968174153
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