Specialists in public finance--some academics and some in government, some from economics and some from policy--evaluate the effectiveness of budgetary reforms in a selection of advanced
capitalist countries. The emphasis is not on how governments are coping with the current financial crisis, but on reforms over the past two or three decades, which differ for each country
depending on particular timelines of reforms attempted or implemented. Among the topics are the rocky road to controlled discretion in Britain, whether Australia after reform is a lapsed
pioneer or decorative architect, the consequences and integrity of Canada's reforms as a story of remnants and resilience, continuous efforts but still a long way to go in Japan, Korea's four
major budgetary reforms to catch up with the big bang, a sadder but much wiser Netherlands, and importing enlightened ideas in Italy's difficult context. The 13 papers are from a June 2008
workshop at The Hague. Annotation 穢2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
