The Economics of Public Spending

The Economics of Public Spending investigates the extent of government involvement in the economy, its rationale, and traces its historical record. The book unites articles previously published in Fiscal Studies. Both the data and the relevant theory are analysed. A new introduction investigates the overall role of the public sector and discusses the general theory of public expenditure. David Miles is Professor of Finance at Imperial College, University of London. He is also an economic consultant to Merrill Lynch. He specializes in research on financial markets. Miles worked for the Bank of England for several years after graduating from Oxford. After a spell in the economics department at Birkbeck College, he was Chief UK Economist for Merrill Lynch. He joined Imperial College in 1996. He has published widely on many aspects of finance and macroeconomics. Gareth Myles is Professor of Economics at the University of Exeter and a Research Fellow of the Institute for Fiscal Studies. He specializes in research on public economics. Myles worked at the University of Warwick for five years after completing his D.Phil. at Oxford, and joined Exeter in 1992. He holds editorial positions with Fiscal Studies, the Journal of Public Economic Theory, and the Review of Economic Studies, and has published widely on many aspects of public economics and microeconomics. Ian Preston is a Reader in Economics at University College London, which he joined in 1991 after a Research Fellowship at Nuffield College, Oxford. He is also a Research Fellow of the Institute for Fiscal Studies. His research interests are in applied microeconomics with particular focus on household behaviour and public policy. He has been editor of Fiscal Studies and currently edits the Economic Journal Conference Volume.