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. This book, in its second edition, continues to build up in detail the major theories of public finance starting from the fundamental principles, and explains how government decisions are taken on the basis of the guidelines yielded by these theories.
The new edition is incorporated with updated data throughout, including the newly revised tax slabs. 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 taken from the Indian economy. Moreover, the book assesses India’s economic policies in the light of the theories discussed. 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 the paper Public Finance/Public Economics.
About the Author(s)
AMBAR GHOSH, Ph.D., is Professor of Economics Department, Presidency University, Kolkata. Earlier, he has been Professor of Economics Department at Jadavpur University, Kolkata. Besides, he has taught at many other institutes, such as the Economics Department of Calcutta University, Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, and so on as a guest faculty. CHANDANA GHOSH, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata. Her specialized areas of research and teaching comprise Theory of Growth and Inequality, New Keynesian Economics, and macro problems of Indian Economy.
