Explores the problems of budget policy and reform in Congress, on the state level, and within the European Union.

This book brings together leading experts from a range of disciplines to explore the problems of budget policy. The authors, including top economists, political scientists, historians, psychologists, and legal scholars, together provide a unique, multidisciplinary introduction to the subject. In addition to in-depth analysis of congressional budget procedures and the economics of federal deficits and debt, Fiscal Challenges explores important recent developments in budget policy at the state level and in the European Union. The volume offers readers wide-ranging perspectives on the many different academic disciplines and perspectives that bear on the evaluation of budgetary procedures and their reform.

Preface
Part I. The Law and Politics of Fiscal Policy: Introduction
1. The Congressional budget process William Dauster
2. Budget gimmicks Cheryl Block
3. Transparency in the U.S. budget process Elizabeth Garrett and Adrian Vermeule
4. European experiences with fiscal rules and institutions Jurgen von Hagen
Part II. Understanding Federal Deficits and Public Debt: Introduction
5. Perspectives on federal deficits and debt Michael Boskin
6. Counting the ways: the structure of federal spending Howell Jackson
7. Starving the beast: the psychology of budget deficits Jonathan Baron and Edward McCaffery
Part III. Budgeting and Fiscal Constraints at the State Level: Introduction
8. Budgetary arrangements in the 50 states: in search of model practices Juliet Musso, Elizabeth Graddy, and Jennifer Grizard
9. The calculus of constraint: a critical review of state fiscal institutions Tracy Gordon
10. When does the ballot box limit the budget? Politics and spending limits in California, Colorado, Utah, and Washington
Thad Kousser, Matthew McCubbins, and Kaj Rozga
Part IV. Intergovernmental Aspects of Budget Policy: Introduction
11. Dysfunctional or optimal institutions? State debt limitations, the structure of state and local governments, and the finance of American infrastructure Barry Weingast and John Wallis
12. Federal-State budgetary interactions David Super
Part V. Judicial Powers and Budget Policy: Introduction
13. New property, entrenchment, and the fiscal constitution John Harrison
14. Courts, constitutions, and public finance: some recent experiences from the states Richard Briffault.