Making Spending Review Fit for Purpose
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…
Don’t Confuse Indicators and Targets
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…
Non-Performing Performance Indicators
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.…
Population Aging and Public Expenditure: Lessons from Japan
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…
Debt, not Net Worth, is what matters
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…
Strengthening New Spending Decision-Making
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…
Spending Review is Back
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,…
Accrual Budgeting: Think Carefully Before Jumping
[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…
“Bigger Government” in FT’s Best Economics Books of…
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…
Bigger Government: Interview on ABC Radio National
My interview on Australian ABC Radio National's program "The Money" (Oct 29) on Bigger Government is now available on YouTube.