Notes on "Public spending" (Evan Davis)

Public spending

Evan Davis

Published by the Penguin Group, England  (1998)

• The way in which we spend public money
• The way we deliver public service

 

• The public actually wants higher quality services

 

• Demand -the way we pay for services (New and more commercials styles of management run on more or less private lines seem more efficient)

• Supply - “down with the public sector, long live public spending”.

• Government both buys and provides
• Government value added (except what government buys in from outside)

 

• Government spending on private consumption

 

• Public spending growth:
• A result of political processes as irrational
• The century of big government coincide with the country of emerging world rise democracy
• vote for tax-cutting politicians -> the end of the era of big government

• The Peacock-Wiseman theory:
• Tax level does not fall back to its previews level after an upheaval (e.g. Great War)

• Adolf Wagner:  
• social progress would place disproportionate demand on the state
• As we get richer, we would seek a more redistribute state
• Progressive economic activities would require huge investment, best provided by the public state public services would grow too.

 

• There is less growth in productivity in public sector
• Bad: the public sector is badly run
• Good: human- intensive services

• The growth of government
• the population has shifted towards those who consume public services most heavily, away from those who consume them least.
• the effect of growing incomes on demand for public services, demographic and effects.

 

• Public services
• Public service ethos
• Public spending
• Public sector

• The old monolithic model of public sector organization 
• a fair, and reasonably egalitarian, distribution of income
• equality of access to services
• discrimination in factor of meritonous activity 
• non- profited- oriented decision -making
• dealing, with customers based on the customers 's supplier
• ‘stakeholder type’ personal policies 
• non-payment of profit
• co-operative industry relationship

 

• In practical, these elements are not necessary true:
• e.g staff are badly past and have badly motivated
• View: profit-maximizes should not dominate areas where service is very important

 

• Another reason for public spending growth when the society gets richer:
• redistribution:" social justice"
• The rich - vote for less in order to minimize their subsidy
• End up=> or vote for more service to satisfy their demand
• Redistribution is tied to consumption of services the rich want.