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This book argues that in many jurisdictions free market advocates have resorted to public sector downsizing and privatization as a means of alleviating problems of unemployment and slow economic growth and that, as a consequence, the strategy of reducing public deficits, balancing budgets and achieving surpluses has become widely accepted as the only road to prosperity.

The Economics of Public Spending shows in clear and simple terms that the strategy of public sector downsizing is based on a misleading conception of public finance. The book dispels several myths about public deficits and debts, offering alternative approaches to fiscal and monetary policies. The contributors argue convincingly and authoritatively that the public sector is crucial for economic growth, that budget deficits are required for improving the performance of the private sector and that there is a real need for an economic agenda based on public deficits and low stable real interest rates in order to achieve full employment with high wages, more generous social programmes and sustainable inflation.

This fascinating and challenging book will be of great interest to policymakers in government, academic researchers as well as public finance experts and economists.