Marc Robinson Blog

The Illusion of Outcome-Based Budgeting

- November 28, 2021 | November 28, 2021 - Marc Robinson comment

The notion that performance budgeting means budgeting based on outcomes is surprisingly widespread. It is, however, a misconception – a misconception which has led to confusion and missteps in PFM reform in some countries, particularly…

Fiscal policy / Government Expenditure / PFM

Making Spending Review Fit for Purpose

- September 1, 2021 | September 1, 2021 - Marc Robinson comment

Spending review, as I wrote recently, will be needed more than ever in the post-pandemic era. Surely, then, it is encouraging that there has over the past decade been a major expansion in the number…

Performance Budgeting

Don’t Confuse Indicators and Targets

- August 4, 2021 | August 5, 2021 - Marc Robinson comment

One of the problems which bedevils performance budgeting – and performance management more generally – is the failure of some to clearly distinguish between performance indicators and performance targets, and to properly understand the roles…

Performance Budgeting / PFM

Non-Performing Performance Indicators

- July 19, 2021 | July 20, 2021 - Marc Robinson 6 Comments

It is shocking that, in quite a few countries which embarked on performance budgeting reforms years ago, performance indicators remain awful. Performance indicators are, after all, a basic building block of any performance budgeting system.…

three bicycles parked in front of building

Government Expenditure / Health Care

Population Aging and Public Expenditure: Lessons from Japan

- June 25, 2021 | June 25, 2021 - Marc Robinson comment

I’ve commented previously on the widespread tendency to exaggerate the impact of population ageing on public expenditure. Sure, it is an important source of upward spending pressure, particularly on long-term care and pensions. However, by…

Fiscal policy

Debt, not Net Worth, is what matters

- May 17, 2021 | June 7, 2021 - Marc Robinson comment

With government debt levels now at exceptionally high levels, many economists and policymakers are reflecting deeply on the challenge of how debt can be reduced to fiscally sustainable levels over the longer term. A few…

PFM

Strengthening New Spending Decision-Making

- May 4, 2021 | May 5, 2021 - Marc Robinson comment

Disciplined decision-making about new spending is crucial to good budgeting. Yet it is something which is absent, or weak, in many countries. This is particularly true in developing countries, but is by no means confined…

Fiscal policy / PFM

Spending Review is Back

- April 19, 2021 | April 10, 2021 - Marc Robinson comment

Governments will in the coming years need spending review more than ever before. Given the big surge in new spending which is currently underway, this might seem a strange statement. Spending review is, after all,…

PFM

Accrual Budgeting: Think Carefully Before Jumping

- April 2, 2021 | April 2, 2021 - Marc Robinson 2 Comments

[Warning: this is a technical blogpiece for public financial management specialists] Is moving to a accrual budgeting a good idea? This is a question I am asked from time to time. It is a controversial…

Government Expenditure

“Bigger Government” in FT’s Best Economics Books of…

- November 23, 2020 | November 23, 2020 - Marc Robinson comment

The Financial Times has listed "Bigger Government" as one of the best economics books of 2020. The FT's chief economics commentator, Martin Wolf, writes that the book is "quantitative, meticulous and sobering". Read the review…