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Public Finance

In: Readings in Public Choice and Constitutional Political Economy

Author

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  • Harvey S. Rosen

Abstract

Public Finance is the branch of economics that studies the taxing and spending activities of government. The term is something of a misnomer, because the fundamental issues are not financial (that is, relating to money). Rather, the key problems relate to the use of real resources. For this reason, some practitioners prefer the label public sector economics or simply public economics. Public finance encompasses both positive and normative analysis. Positive analysis deals with issues of cause and effect, for example, “If the government cuts the tax rate on gasoline, what will be the effect on gasoline consumption?” Normative analysis deals with ethical issues, for example, “Is it fairer to tax income or consumption?” Modern public finance focuses on the microeconomic functions of government, how the government does and should affect the allocation of resources and the distribution of income. For the most part, the macroeconomic functions of government—the use of taxing, spending, and monetary policies to affect the overall level of unemployment and the price level—are covered in other fields.

Suggested Citation

  • Harvey S. Rosen, 2008. "Public Finance," Springer Books, in: Readings in Public Choice and Constitutional Political Economy, chapter 22, pages 371-389, Springer.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-0-387-75870-1_22
    DOI: 10.1007/978-0-387-75870-1_22
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Ding, Hong, 2012. "Is government’s help for unemployed people helpful for the society? An Empirical Study on Macro Data of Public Unemployment Spending in OECD Nations," MPRA Paper 43132, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Johann K. Brunner, 2010. "Rationalität und Effizienz - einige Lehren aus der Verhaltensökonomik für die Wohlfahrtstheorie," Economics working papers 2010-12, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    3. Jaelani, Aan, 2015. "Public financial management in Indonesia: Review of Islamic public finance," MPRA Paper 72340, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 01 Nov 2015.

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