Why Budgets Matter
Budget Policy and American Politics; Revised and Updated Edition
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Pennsylvania State University Press
Published:15th Nov '15
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
When the first edition of Why Budgets Matter was published in 2003, the federal budget had fallen back into deficit. At the time, fairly modest changes in taxes and spending would have ensured that deficits and debt would remain at tolerable levels. Instead, the disconnect between taxes and spending that had plagued the United States since the 1960s grew even greater. A near-catastrophic economic collapse beginning in December 2007 then magnified the fiscal consequences of irresponsible policy choices. This new edition examines how and why the balanced-budget equilibrium of the 1990s was destabilized in the 2000s. It also places this latest partisan battle over the size of government in historical perspective by exploring its connection to earlier budget policy eras.
“Ippolito’s analysis of the budget process is an important contribution to the literature on the American budget process. It is unquestionably one of the best books on the subject, similar in scope to Aaron Wildavsky’s classic The New Politics of the Budgetary Process (1988). Overall, Why Budgets Matter: Budget Policy and American Politics is an excellent historical account of the federal budget process, and it is intended for a general adult reading audience.”
—Patrick Fisher, Perspectives on Political Science, on the first edition
“This book is without doubt the best analysis yet written of federal budgeting from the late eighteenth century to the present. . . . The subject matter of this splendid book should therefore be of immense interest to students of political history and public policy.”
—Iwan Morgan, Journal of American History, on the first edition
ISBN: 9780271071138
Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 23mm
Weight: 612g
368 pages
Revised and Updated