Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- PART ONE THE ECONOMIC ROLE OF THE STATE
- PART TWO HISTORICAL REVIEW
- 2 The Role of the State in the Pre–World War II Period
- 3 Forces That Changed the Role of the State
- 4 Growth of Public Spending and Taxation in the 20th Century
- 5 The Role of the State in Social Protection
- 6 Globalization and Public Spending
- PART THREE THEORETICAL AND ANALYTICAL ISSUES
- PART FOUR THE OUTCOME OF STATE INTERVENTION
- PART FIVE ON THE ECONOMIC ROLE OF THE STATE IN THE FUTURE
- Notes
- Index
- References
2 - The Role of the State in the Pre–World War II Period
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 October 2011
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- PART ONE THE ECONOMIC ROLE OF THE STATE
- PART TWO HISTORICAL REVIEW
- 2 The Role of the State in the Pre–World War II Period
- 3 Forces That Changed the Role of the State
- 4 Growth of Public Spending and Taxation in the 20th Century
- 5 The Role of the State in Social Protection
- 6 Globalization and Public Spending
- PART THREE THEORETICAL AND ANALYTICAL ISSUES
- PART FOUR THE OUTCOME OF STATE INTERVENTION
- PART FIVE ON THE ECONOMIC ROLE OF THE STATE IN THE FUTURE
- Notes
- Index
- References
Summary
Introduction to the Historical Review
The following five chapters in Part II present a historical review of the changing economic role of the state. Much of the review deals with the 19th and 20th centuries. The review discusses various factors and refers to some economists who contributed to changes in the perception of what responsibilities states have in the economy and to actual changes in the economic activities of governments over the two centuries. As a background to that review, it should be recalled how attitudes toward poverty, income distribution, and the opportunities faced by individuals changed over long periods of time. While recognizing some exceptions and some differences among countries, we can distinguish three general periods.
In the first period, which extended from the Middle Ages to the first half of the 19th century, the social and economic status of a person depended largely or almost exclusively on birth. Family and family connections were by far the most important factors. Poverty (or a low-class status) was seen as a natural condition of part of humanity. Sergio Ricossa ([1986] 2006) quotes the words of Giordano da Rivalto (o da Pisa), a monk who was a famous theologian and preacher at the beginning of the 13th century: “If all were king, who would work the land? God has ordained that there must be rich and poor so that the rich are served by the poor, and the poor are helped by the rich” (my translation).
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Government versus MarketsThe Changing Economic Role of the State, pp. 39 - 71Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011
References
. 2008. “European Union's Social Policy in Globalization Context,” in Institutions for Social Well-Being: Alternatives for Europe, edited by (Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan), pp. 15–32.Google Scholar
1967. “Macroeconomics of Unbalanced Growth: The Anatomy of Urban Crisis,” American Economic Review 57: 415–26.Google Scholar
. 2005. “On Reading Hayek: Choices, Consequences and the Road to Serfdom.” European Journal of Political Economy 21 (December): 1042–53.
, and . 1980. The Power to Tax: Analytical Foundations of a Fiscal Constitution (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).Google Scholar
. 2003. “Endnote,” in The Theory of Public Finance in Italy from the Origins to the 1940s, edited by and (Pisa-Rome: Istituti Editoriali e Poligrafici Internazionali).Google Scholar
2000. “The Price of Everything: On Human Values and Global Markets” (July). http://www.nnn.se/n-model/price/price.htm.
. 1996. Storia Facile dell'Economia Italiana dal Medioevo a Oggi (Milan: Oscar Mondadori).Google Scholar
. 2009. The Rise, Fall and Return of the 20th Century's Most Influential Economist (New York: Bloomsbury Press).Google Scholar
. 1849. Les Soirées de la Rue Saint-Lazare: Entretiens sur les Lois Economique et Défense de la Propriété. Translated as Le Serate di Rue Saint-Lazare (Macerata: Liberi Libri, 2009).Google Scholar
. 1936. First Principles of Public Finance (London: Jonathan Cape). Translated from I Primi Principi dell'Economia Finanziaria (Rome: Sanpaolesi, 1928).Google Scholar
. 1825. L'Industrie et la Morale Considérées dans leurs Rapports avec la Liberté (Paris: A. Sautelet).Google Scholar
, and . 1981. Mercantilism as a Rent-Seeking Society: Economic Regulations in Historical Perspective (College Station: Texas A&M University Press).Google Scholar
. 2003. “An Outline of the Main Italian Contributions to the Theory of Public Finance.” Il Pensiero Economico Italiano, anno undicesimo 1: 11–41.Google Scholar
, and . 2003. The Theory of Public Finance in Italy from the Origins to the 1940s (Pisa-Rome: Istituti Editoriali e Poligrafici Internazionali).Google Scholar
. 1985. “Control of Public Spending Growth and Majority Rule,” in Public Expenditure and Government Growth, edited by and (Oxford: Basil Blackwell), pp. 132–42.Google Scholar
. 1985. “Are There Natural Limits to the Growth of Government?,” in Public Expenditure and Government Growth, edited by and (Oxford: Basil Blackwell), pp. 101–18.Google Scholar
1988. The Fatal Conceit: The Errors of Socialism, edited by III (Chicago: University of Chicago Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
. 1955. Writings on Economics, edited and introduced by (London: Thomas Nelson and Sons).Google Scholar
. [1739]. A Treatise of Human Nature.
1981. The Political and Philosophy of Economics: Marxians, Keynesians and Austrians (Oxford: Basil Blackwell).Google Scholar
. editor 2004. Rules Based Fiscal Policy in Emerging Markets (London: Palgrave Macmillan).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
. 2007. “Fiscal Responsibility Framework: International Experience and Implications for Hungary.” MNB Occasional Paper 62.Google Scholar
. 1992. The Socialist System: The Political Economy of Communism (Princeton: Princeton University Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2002. “What Drives Social Spending? 1770 to 2020,” in When Market Fails: Social Policy and Economic Reform, edited by and (New York: Russell Sage Foundation), pp. 185–214.Google Scholar
. 1867. Das Capital. Translated as Capital: A New Abridgement. World's Classics (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995).Google Scholar
2006. Adam Smith: Radical and Egalitarian? An Interpretation for the 21st Century (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press).Google Scholar
. 1819. An Essay on Government, with an Introduction of Ernst Barker (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1937).Google Scholar
. 1992. Public Choice Analysis in Historical Perspective, Raffaele Mattioli Lectures (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, and . 1961. The Growth of Public Expenditure in the United Kingdom (Princeton: Princeton University Press).Google Scholar
. 2000. “Public Sector Reform: Lessons from the Nordic Region: The Swedish Experience,” Swedish Agency for Administrative Development. Mimeo (May 19).
. [1986] 2006. La fine dell'economia: Saggio sulla perfezione (Catensac, Italy: Rubettino Editore).Google Scholar
. 1952. The Theory of Economic Policy in English Classical Political Economy (London: Macmillan).Google Scholar
. 1613. Breve Trattato delle Cause che Possono far Abbondare l'Oro e l'Argento dove non sono Miniere (Naples: Lazzaro Scorriggio).Google Scholar
1934. A Positive Program for Laissez-faire: Some Proposals for a Liberal Economic Policy, Public Policy Pamphlet No. 15 (Chicago: Chicago University Press).Google Scholar
1972. Public Welfare, Science and Propaganda in Seventeenth Century France (Princeton: Princeton University Press).Google Scholar
. 1968. “The Government of the Economy,” in A Dialogue of the Proper Role of the State, by and (Chicago: University of Chicago Business School), pp. 3–20.Google Scholar
. 1988. “Trends in Tax Policy as Revealed by Recent Development and Research.” International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation Bulletin 42, no. 3 (March).Google Scholar
. 1994. “Taxation and Economic Structure.” Public Choice Studies, no. 24: 35–45.
. ed. 2003. Transition to Market (Washington, D.C.: IMF).
. 2010. Russian Bears and Somali Sharks: Transitions and Other Passages (New York: Jorge Pinto Books).Google Scholar
. 1835. “Mémoire sur le paupérisme,” in Tocqueville, Democrazia e poverta' (Rome: Ideazione Editrice, 1998).Google Scholar
. 1947. The Theory of Social and Economic Organization (London: Free Press of Glencoe).Google Scholar
1978. “The Social Analysis of Three Early 19th Century French Liberals.” Journal of Libertarian Studies 2, no. 1: 45–63.Google Scholar
, ed. 2000. Povertá e Innovazioni Istituzionali in Italia (Bologna: Il Mulino).