In this non-biased, politically neutral compendium, the authors trace the evolution of the U.S. government's role in the economy, including the history, ideas, key players, and court rulings that influenced its involvement. Today's economic environment is in constant flux, as is the participation of governments in it. Local, state, national, and global governmental agencies have taken on new responsibilities—with both positive and negative economic consequences. This book looks at the changing role of American government in the economy, from determining the measurements of economic health, to being mindful of corporate sustainability, to legislating business practices and consumer affairs. This comprehensive collection of essays draws from the contributions of 25 economic scholars along with seasoned educators David A. Dieterle and Kathleen C. Simmons to examine economic systems and the factors that influence them. The work includes summaries of important Supreme Court cases that have impacted America's economic infrastructure, biographies of famous economists, and descriptions of the seven key economic systems—command (socialism), democratic socialism, fascism, market (capitalism), state capitalism, transitional, and welfare state.

The Role of Government in the History of Economic Thought examines a controversial area of economic analysis: the appropriate role of government within the economic system. If the first two-thirds of the twentieth century were dominated by the active involvement of economists in government policymaking, blurring the lines between the spheres of economics and politics, then the last several decades have witnessed something of a reversion to the classical economics of Adam Smith and John Stuart Mill. This volume offers a comprehensive and integrated history of the evolution of the relationship between governments and economies, examining the British classical tradition, the American progressive movement, and corporatist ideology.

This book contains at least three main highlights: breaking through the limitations of the mainstream Western economics system and the market theory framework, correctly explaining the successful experience of China’s reform and opening up over the past 40 years from an economic perspective, and developing a new economics system and market theory. China’s reform and opening up and innovative developments have provided a wide range of materials and resources for this theory; the results of this research will be integrated into world economic theories and serve the economic development and economic growth across the world.

The size of gov¿t. has increased significantly since the financial crisis of 2008 as a result of the government¿s unplanned intervention in financial markets and subsequent stimulus legislation. Contents of this report: (1) How Does the Gov¿t. Affect the Economy?; (2) How Large is the Gov¿t.?; (3) Effect of the Gov¿t. on Economic Efficiency: What is a Market Failure?; Public Goods; Common Resources; Monopoly Power; Externalities; Asymmetric Information; Failure to Optimize; How Do Taxes Affect Economic Efficiency?; Balancing Economic Efficiency With Other Goals; (4) Effect of the Gov¿t. on Economic Growth: Effect of Spending, Transfers, Taxes, and Regulation. Charts and tables.

'Starting from the idea that market and state are intertwined domains, and explaining the economy as a system of communication evolving through innovation, this excellent book makes a valuable contribution to understanding government rule setting in knowledge-based economies. It provides a taxonomy of ways in which government rules function more or less successfully, and addresses the important problem of institutional vulnerability. Intellectual property rights laws and reform of health care systems are perceptively discussed. This book is strongly recommended for public policy experts and researchers investigating the publicprivate economy.' John Davis, Marquette University, US and University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands 'Since the 1970s the conventional wisdom has been that governments should retreat from the economic sphere and enhance the role of markets. The financial crash of 2008 has brought that into question. This stimulating set of essays considers the role of government in modern complex economies. Addressing the potential for both government failure and market failure, and drawing on empirical evidence, these studies are important contributions to a revived debate.' Geoffrey M. Hodgson, University of Hertfordshire, UK 'The idea that governments as well as markets can fail has been central to the public choice literature for the last half century. Typically government failure is described and measured as excessive expenditures or unbalanced budgets. This original book points out that government failures often take the form of inappropriate or inconsistent rules governing the private sector. The argument is nicely illustrated using real-world examples in the areas of healthcare, innovation, and intellectual property. The book is a timely and important contribution to the literature.' Dennis C. Mueller, University of Vienna, Austria This highly unique book takes a fundamental look at when and how a government can fail at its core responsibility of formulating rules. Government, representing society, relates to the economy by formulating the rules within which (market) players should operate. Although market and business failure are much discussed in the economics literature, government failure is often overlooked. This book addresses this gap, exploring in detail what constitutes government failure. Wilfred Dolfsma illustrates that it is not adequate to discuss government failure simply with reference to its level of expenditure, as is usually the case. Defining government failure and analysing it in the domains of health care, innovation and technology, he explores topics such as how market and society relate, consequences of conflicts between government policies, how government should (not) intervene, the vulnerability of institutions and rules (set out by government), and suggests a welfare perspective for evaluative purposes. This stimulating and thought provoking book will prove a fascinating read for academics, researchers and advanced students in economics particularly public choice and institutional economics public administration, policy studies, and law and economics.

This Brief proposes a new theory of public economics which deemphasizes reliance on the free market and affirms the importance of public goods and services within the context of the democratic process and constitutional governance. Public non-market production makes up from a quarter to more than half of all economic activity in advanced democratic nation-states. Yet by imposing market precepts on the public domain, as mainstream economics, political science, and public administration do, public governing capacity is weakened and the democratic system suffers. Agencies originally created to meet public needs are being warped into entities whose purpose is to generate revenue and, in some cases, deliver private profits at public expense. Drawing on classic public finance literature, this book illustrates the differences between public economy and the market model and why those differences matter. Building on this, the Brief sketches the elements of a new theory of the public non-market and illuminates its connections to the delegation of power and collective provision of resources from the polity. This book will be useful to scholars of public economics, political science, and public administration as well as policy makers and those working in the public sector.

Vito Tanzi offers a truly comprehensive treatment of the economic role of the state in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries from a historical and world perspective. The book addresses the fundamental question of what governments should do, or have attempted to do, in economic activities in past and recent periods. It also speculates on what they are likely or may be forced to do in future years. The investigation assembles a large set of statistical information that should prove useful to policy-makers and scholars in the perennial discussion of government's optimal economic roles. It will become an essential reference work on the analytical borders between the market and the state, and on what a reasonable 'exit strategy' from the current fiscal crises should be.

Richard Vietor shows how governments set direction and create the climate for a nation's economic development and profitable private enterprise. Drawing on history, economic analysis, and interviews with executives and officials around the globe, he provides examinations of different government approaches to growth and development.