Includes bibliographical references and index.

Machine generated contents note: Preface; Part I. Economic Role of State: 1. General introduction and main issues; Part II. Historical Review: 2. The role of the state in the pre World War Two period; 3. Forces that changed the role of the state; 4. Growth of public spending in the 20th century; 5. The role of the state in social protection: historical landmarks; 6. Globalization and public spending; Part III. Theoretical and Analytical Issues: 7. Theories of public sector behavior: taxonomy of government types; 8. Voluntary exchange and public choice theories; 9. The Nord European economic theory of fiscal policy; 10. Policy tools and government roles; Part IV. The Outcome of State Intervention: 11. Evaluating the impact of public spending on socio-economic indicators; 12. Social protection in the modern world: quantitative aspects; 13. The role of the state and economic performance in the Nordic countries; Part V. Reflections on The Role of the State in the Future: 14. The economic role of the state in the future: concluding observations.

"Vito Tanzi offers a truly comprehensive treatment available of the economic role of the state in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries from a historical and world perspective. The book addresses the fundamental question of what governments should do, or have attempted to do, in economic activities in past and recent periods. It also speculates on what they are likely or may be forced to do in future years. Although other recent titles in economics deal with normative theories, public choice theories, welfare state analysis, social protection, and the like, no other book has the same breadth or depth specifically on the state's viable economic role. The author occupies a unique position in global public finance, having served for nearly three decades as a leading fiscal administrator for the International Monetary Fund, financial adviser to 80 countries, and active economic theorist. The investigation assembles a large set of statistical information that should prove useful to policy-makers and scholars in the perennial discussion of government's optimal economic roles. It will become an essential reference work on the analytical borders between the market and the state, and on what a reasonable "exit strategy" from the current fiscal crises should be"--

Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest, 2015. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest affiliated libraries.