Fiscal Consolidation and Australia's Public Debt

Australia has experienced one of the fastest growing public debt levels in the world post‐Global Financial Crisis due to a series of large federal budget deficits driven by high government spending. In this paper we examine the balance sheet implications of this escalating public debt, before proposing some macro‐fiscal objectives for determining its sustainable level. These objectives are to (i) restore the federal government's solvency; (ii) eliminate foreign public debt; and (iii) achieve budgetary balance over the business cycle. Empirically, we first examine how much fiscal consolidation is required for debt stabilisation at current levels, before considering what sized budget balances are needed to achieve the target debt to GDP ratios consistent with the proposed objectives. The results show that no target debt to GDP level consistent with the optimal levels will be met on current fiscal settings in the medium term. This implies significantly greater fiscal consolidation is required to minimise future fiscal risk.     

A research topic in education law and policy: The development of regionalism and federalism in Europe and their impact on educational policy and administration

There has been an “upgrading” of the regional level in the European policy process which also has implications for educational policy and administration. At the same time federalism has become a model not only for nation states but also for the construction of Europe. While regionalism and federalism has attracted more and more scholarly attention there has been a neglect of the implications for the educational field. The article starts by looking for models of regionalisation and federalisation as a legal and political technique of conciliating between the different levels in education. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Federal Implications of Northern Territory Statehood

Just over a decade since the failed referendum of 1998, statehood for the Northern Territory (NT) is back on the political agenda. The achievement of statehood would be a first for Australian federalism, where no new state has been created or admitted since Federation. Following a discussion of the concept of statehood and how it might be achieved, it traces the political development of the NT. The article then examines the implications of NT statehood for the Australian federation and finds that statehood would facilitate constitutional change in the federation by lowering the threshold required for success in a national referendum. Statehood may also raise questions about the equal representation in the Senate of less populous states. However, statehood would have no effect upon financial arrangements with the Commonwealth, the standing of the Northern Territory at COAG meetings, or the legal standing of the other states.     

Los Congresos Estatales y la Política Federal en México: state legislatures and federal policymaking in Mexico

The Mexican Constitution, in the Poder Legislativo, grants state legislatures the authority to introduce legislation (iniciativas de ley) in the federal congress. In this paper the authors examine this powerful mechanism through which the Mexican state legislatures can directly influence policymaking at the federal level. Using a new data set of state-led initiatives, this work: describes the frequency with which iniciativas are introduced; describes the substance, timing, and final disposition of these state-led initiatives; and explains which factors affect the probability of presenting a state-led initiative. The authors find that party competition and partisan divisions at the state and federal levels play a significant role in the use of iniciativas de los congresos estatales. The authors’ study of this peculiar authority granted to the Mexican states contributes to the rich discussion of the changing role of the states in the era of Mexico’s nuevo federalismo.     

Accounting for Future Generations: Intergenerational Equity in Australia1

Australian governments have published three intergenerational reports since 2002. In line with a general international trend these reports pointed to a problem said to arise from an ageing population which exposes Australia to the risk of a future major fiscal crisis. In this article we argue that by failing to use a generational accounting framework, the reports privilege the elderly at the expense of young people. Added to this, they fail to engage any discussion of intergenerational equity defined as distributive fairness and justice. In this article we explore the value of various approaches to intergenerational justice, focusing on the Principle of Intergenerational Neutrality derived from Rawls' theory of justice. We argue that this does not work as well from a policy point of view as Sen's freedom‐as‐capabilities approach. We conclude that linking Sen's approach to justice to a generational accounting will enable governments to address future issues of equity.     

教育财政支出占GDP4％目标的实现与选择性政策执行——基于江西省县域面板数据的分析

现有的政策执行机制和地方财力是否能够确保1993年就已提出的“国家财政性教育投入占GDP4％”目标在2012年得到实现？江西省1997--2006年教育支出比重的变化显示,地方自有财力的增长并没有相应地提高教育的支出比重。中央的财政政策偏好对地方的财政支出结构有非常重要的影响。中国政策过程中的政治集权和干部管理上的组织控制,使得中央政府可以有效地影响地方政府的支出偏好,如果将教育投入比重达到GDP4％列为地方官员的政绩进行考核,并加大对欠发达地区教育的转移支付力度,就可以从改变官员的支出偏好和提供财力支持上保证这一目标的实现。     

论单一制中国的财政联邦制——以中央与地方财政关系为视角

单一制与联邦制只不过是国家纵向权力配置模式的类型化。任何国家都存在集权或分权两种力的作用,中国便是一个带有联邦制因素的单一制国家。中国财政联邦制的发展与单一制国家结构框架内的体制多有抵牾,但中国财政联邦制的变革并不意味着宪政联邦制的确立。     

韩国财政预算管理体制考察及启示

财政预算管理体制与政府部门有着千丝万缕的联系,考察分析韩国现行财政预算管理体制应首先从韩国财政机构的构成着手,比较分析中韩两国财政预算在编制、执行、决算等预算环节的异同。这对解决中国目前预算年度与立法机关审议批准时期冲突、预算编制时间短、预算编制机构设置不合理和预算执行进度过慢等问题有借鉴意义。