The objective of the theory of public finance is to determine the optimal scales of government interventions or expenditures in different areas and the optimum modes of financing these expenditures. The problems that the government handles are extremely complex and this makes the theory of public finance challenging and exciting at the same time. It is continuously searching for better, more acceptable and easier-to-implement solutions to the problems encountered. To help the readers get a clear idea about this fascinating field of study, this book builds up in detail the major theories of public finance starting from the first principles and explains how government decisions are taken on the basis of the guidelines yielded by these theories.

This book exposes the students to various facets of public finance which develops analytical frameworks to:

 Address the issues of efficient allocation of resources between private, public and mixed goods

 Ensure equitable distribution of tax burden among individuals

 Find ways of minimizing inefficiency of the tax structure

 Study the statutory and economic incidence of different types of taxes

 Examine the implications of government borrowing

 Develop the rationale of distributing economic or fiscal responsibilities and tax powers among different tiers of government.

The book makes the comprehension of the subject easier by developing simple mathematical models to derive the major results in each of the above areas, and by explaining the economic intuition of the results in detail. The concepts are illustrated with the help of simple examples from the Indian economy. Moreover, the book assesses India’s economic policies in the light of the theories discussed. This drives home the relevance of the subject and makes the theories meaningful to the students. Another distinguishing feature of the book is that it contains a large number of review questions and numerical problems on every topic discussed to help the students apply the tools and techniques learnt and thereby develop a sound understanding of the subject.

This textbook is designed to serve the needs of undergraduate and postgraduate students of economics for a course in Public Finance/Public Economics.About the AuthorCHANDANA GHOSH, PhD, is Assistant Professor at the Economic Research Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata. She has 22 years of teaching and research experience. Her areas of interest are Theory of Growth and Inequality, New Keynesian Economics, and Macro Problems of Indian Economy.|AMBAR GHOSH, PhD, is Professor of Economics, Jadavpur University, Kolkata. Earlier, he was Professor of Economics at Presidency College, Kolkata. Besides, he has taught at many other institutions such as University of Calcutta, Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, as guest faculty.