GOVERNMENT ECONOMIC POLICY

measures by which a government attempts to influence the economy. The national budget generally reflects the economic policy of a government, and it is partly through the budget that the government exercises its three principal methods of establishing control: the allocative function, the stabilization function, and the distributive function. Over time, there have been considerable changes in emphasis on these different economic functions of the budget. In the 19th century, government finance was primarily concerned with the allocative function. The job of government was to raise revenue as cheaply and efficiently as possible to perform the limited tasks that it could do better than the private sector. As the 20th century began, the distribution function acquired increased significance. Social welfare benefits became important, and many countries introduced graduated tax systems. In the later interwar period, and more especially in the 1950s and '60s, stabilization was central, although equity was also a major concern in the design of tax systems. In the 1970s and '80s, however, the pendulum swung back. Once more, allocative issues came to the fore, and stabilization and distribution became less significant in government finance. Additional reading The economic role of the government is analyzed in C.F. Bastable, Public Finance, 3rd rev. ed. (1903, reprinted 1917); James M. Buchanan and Marilyn R. Flowers, The Public Finances, 5th ed. (1980); Richard Stone and Giovanna Stone, National Income and Expenditure, 10th ed. (1977); Bent Hansen, Fiscal Policy in Seven Countries, 1955-1965: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States (1969); Charles J. Hitch and Roland N. McKean, The Economics of Defense in the Nuclear Age (1960, reissued 1975); John Kenneth Galbraith, The Affluent Society, 4th ed. (1984); Francis M. Bator, The Question of Government Spending: Public Needs and Private Wants (1960); Leif Johansen, Public Economics (1965, reissued 1975; originally published in Norwegian, 1965); Erik Lundberg, Instability and Economic Growth (1968); Ronald L. Teigen (ed.), Readings in Money, National Income, and Stabilization Policy, 4th ed. (1978); C.A.E. Goodhart, Money, Information, and Uncertainty (1975); John G. Gurley and Edward S. Shaw, Money in a Theory of Finance (1960, reprinted 1971); Victoria Chick, The Theory of Monetary Policy, rev. ed. (1977); Joseph A. Pechman and Benjamin A. Okner, Who Bears the Tax Burden? (1974); and Robert H. Haveman and Julius Margolis (eds.), Public Expenditure and Policy Analysis, 3rd ed. (1983). Kenyon Edwards Poole John F. Due Assar Lindbeck Charles Nicholas Morris The Editors of the Encyclopdia Britannica