| Abstract: | This article examines the Australian experience with coordinatedgovernment borrowing from federation to the present day. Itreveals significant changes in the purposes for which the borrowingarrangements were originally designed and are now used. Largelyfor this reason, the outward form of the arrangements no longerresembles their actual operation, causing severe accountabilityproblems. Whatever the advantages of coordinated governmentborrowing for economic management in a federal system, the Australianexperience shows that it may have economic disadvantages aswell. The time has come, therefore, for the borrowing arrangementsto be rethought and revised. |
