The scope of government activity: How big is government in the American economy? ; Purposes of government expenditures ; Reasons for growth of government ; Are there laws of growth of government spending? ; Defining the proper scope of government activity ; Controversial border areas between the private and public sectors ; The ballot box versus the market place --
Efficiency in government expenditures: Budgeting ; Budget concepts ; Efficiency devices ; Concluding notes: the political reality --
The public finances of state and local governments: The advantages of local government ; Advantages of national programs ; Post-war financing of state and local governments ; State tax systems ; Solutions to the problems of state and local finance --
Economics of metropolitan areas: Trouble in the core city ; Problems in the suburbs ; Problems of coordination and planning: physical interdependence ignored ; Metropolitan consolidation? ; Alternatives to metropolitan consolidation --
Taxation : principles and issues of fairness: Some basic concepts ; Some practical criteria for tax systems ; A fair tax system: criteria of equity ; Measures for ability to pay: the choice of tax base ; Vertical equity: the structure of tax rates ; The federal personal income tax ; Issues of fairness ; The double taxation issue. Taxes, efficiency, and growth: The tax system and the efficiency of the economy ; Progressive income taxes and the supply of effort ; The tax system and economic growth ; The tax system and personal saving ; Too much income taxation? the search for alternatives ; The tax system and the growth of demand ; Concluding comments --
Budget policy for economic stability: The theory of fiscal policy ; The budget principles of fiscal theory ; Deficits and surpluses: automatic and discretionary changes ; The full employment budget ; Some complications ; Other budget principles: the annually balanced budget ; Budget-policy against recession ; Actual fiscal policy during inflation ; Suggestions on improving fiscal policy --
The economics of the public debt: Growth of debt ; The structure of the debt and debt management policy ; A policy dilemma ; Recent improvements in debt management technique.