Modern Western Public Finance

Author: Zeng Jianhua
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-06-01
Features: This book systematically introduces the basic theories of Western public finance and also briefly covers important economic analysis methods, while also providing an introduction to deeper Western economic thought. It is specifically designed for undergraduate courses in finance and economics and public administration. It is also suitable for undergraduate and graduate students in economics, management, and law and politics. This book is an introductory textbook dedicated to studying and introducing the fiscal theories of modern Western developed countries, written to meet the needs of learning and researching modern Western public finance in higher education institutions in China. Through years of teaching practice, the author deeply felt the necessity of writing a concise modern Western public finance textbook. Modern Western fiscal theory is a vast treasure trove of knowledge, and excavating and organizing its scientific content is a huge systematic project. Summarizing the modern Western fiscal theory, which has reached a world-leading level after more than two hundred years of accumulation, in a small book is clearly a very difficult task. Therefore, this book can only limit its scope to what is feasible. This book aims to provide a concise reading for university students who want to grasp the basic theories of modern Western public finance in a single semester. Of course, it can also serve as a preparatory reading for university students who prefer to read large, comprehensive original works. As an introductory textbook, it cannot be overly lengthy, and conciseness is one of its major features. In today's era of knowledge explosion, conciseness is particularly important—it is both the highest pursuit of science and the most fundamental form of truth. Faced with the rich yet vast and complex modern Western fiscal theory, how can a concise book be written? The author had to learn from Bertrand Russell, a great British philosopher who highly advocated the "Ockham's Razor." He not only pursued certainty in human knowledge throughout his life, hoping to rebuild the knowledge structure with the fewest possible assumptions, but also wrote both philosophy and essays with a beautiful, concise, and clear style, making him a master of "conciseness." Using the "Ockham's Razor," William Occam (c. 1285–c. 1349), a medieval British scholastic philosopher and nominalist, proposed that philosophy could only deal with experience and inferences based on experience, claiming, "Entities should not be multiplied without necessity." This principle later became known as "Ockham's Razor" because it "shaved off" all "universals" without real basis. The author strives to minimize unnecessary content from the original material while preserving essential elements, aiming to summarize each knowledge point in the most concise language possible. The writing of this book references some representative Western public finance works and draws on many excellent domestic Western public finance textbooks. Compared to other similar textbooks in China, this book has the following characteristics:
First, emphasis on both research and introduction. The book organizes and integrates new findings in modern Western fiscal theory, summarizes ands its essence, refines it through research, and introduces it after digestion, thereby avoiding a simple replication or superficial understanding of modern Western fiscal theory. Second, emphasis on both theory and institutions. Recognizing that public finance, as an applied economics, has strong practicality, the book introduces both the relatively mature theories of modern Western public finance and the effective institutions in Western fiscal practice, bridging the gap between Western fiscal theory and reality and avoiding unnecessary, impractical, and purely theoretical speculation. Third, emphasis on both systematicity and conciseness. Based on the author's teaching notes on Western public finance, the book's system and content have been tested and refined through multiple teaching practices, gradually forming a complete, well-structured, comprehensive, and concise style. The theoretical system of the book is arranged in a logical structure of "Basic Theories of Public Finance → Theory of Public Expenditure → Theory of Public Revenue → Theory of Fiscal System and Policy." The content covers the basic principles and characteristic theories of fiscal and economic theories in modern Western developed countries. Specifically, in the basic theories of public finance, it mainly includes: market failure theory, government economic function theory, equity and efficiency theory, public goods theory, externality theory, and public choice theory; in the theory of public expenditure, it mainly includes basic theories of public expenditure, cost-benefit analysis theory, transfer expenditure and consumption expenditure theory; in the theory of public revenue, it mainly includes basic theories of public revenue, tax theory, public debt theory, and public pricing theory; and in the theory of fiscal system and policy, it mainly includes public budget theory, multilevel fiscal theory, and fiscal policy theory. In terms of content selection, the book follows the following principles: first, the course content should be as complete and comprehensive as possible, covering all aspects of Western fiscal theory; second, the introduction of theories should be as concise and brief as possible, highlighting basic principles and important knowledge points; and third, the difficulty level should be moderate, introducing relatively simple, mature, and widely applied basic theories, while minimizing the introduction of complex, narrowly applied, and immature theories and models. This book is specifically designed for undergraduate courses in finance and economics and public administration, and is also suitable for undergraduate and graduate students in economics, management, and law and politics. In addition to systematically introducing the basic theories of Western public finance, the book also briefly introduces important economic analysis methods and touches on deeper Western economic thought. Therefore, readers can learn economic analysis methods while studying fiscal knowledge and gain a better understanding of the intrinsic spirit of Western fiscal and economic thought. Overall, this course provides significant reference value for systematically and comprehensively understanding the fiscal theories and policies of modern Western developed countries, and it also holds important significance for broadening theoretical perspectives, borrowing and absorbing advanced fiscal theories from developed countries, and promoting innovation in China's fiscal theory and practice.