1st Edition
Public Spending Decisions Growth and Restraint in the 1970s
First published in 1980, Public Spending Decisions attempts to answer some important questions regarding public spending and its relationship with economic and financial stringency. By the beginning of the 1970s the expectation of continuing economic growth had become implicit in the attitudes of politicians, administrators, and the public in Britain; likewise, the assumption of the growth of public spending had become embedded in the machinery and processes of both local and central government. How then were the local authorities and government departments affected by the abrupt halt in the growth of public spending during 1970s? How were the decisions made about the allocation of increasingly scares resources? How did the treasury ensured that the spending limits it established were not exceeded and what are the implications of changes in the attitudes of decision makers towards the growth of the public sector? The contributors are distinguished scholars in the field of local and central government. This book is a must read for scholars of public policy, public administration, finance, and economics.
List of contributors Preface 1. Introduction Maurice Wright 2. From Growth to Standstill J. D. Stewart 3. Incremental Budgeting and the Assumption of Growth: The Experience of Local Government Royston Greenwood, C. R. Hinings, Stuart Ranson, and K. Walsh 4. The Organisational Consequences of Financial Restraint in Local Government C. R. Hinings, Royston Greenwood, Stuart Ranson, and K. Walsh 5. The Context of Central Administration J.M. Lee 6. From Planning to Control: PESC in the 1970s Maurice Wright 7. Public Expenditure and Welfare Peter Self 8. Growth, Restraint and Rationality Maurice Wright Index
Biography
Edited by Maurice Wright
