In the context of several examples of problems associated with present budgetary conventions, I revisit Musgrave's conceptual division of the government's program into Allocation, Distribution and Stabilization Branch subbudgets. I suggest progress towards Musgrave's ideal of a more informative budgetary "language," one less dependent on arbitrary institutional labeling, must be based on the nonarbitrary description of the individual's economic environment, as it is affected by government. As a first approximation, that environment can be summed up in terms of the individual's budget constraint and levels of public goods provided. Simple models suggest that an unambiguous budgetary language may be feasible but there remains much to clarify about both the objectives of the exercise and the specifics of methods to deal with particular problems.
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Paper provided by CESifo GmbH in its series CESifo Working Paper Series with number
CESifo Working Paper No. 619.
Length: Date of creation: 2001 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_619
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Paper
David F. Bradford, 2001.
"Reforming Budgetary Language,"
Working Papers
128, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
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Find related papers by JEL classification: H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government H20 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - General H61 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Budget; Budget Systems