Competitiveness and Public Finances – Alternatives for Selecting Action Scenarios

When working in political or social affairs, one is also making decisions about money, the economy, and public financing. To dispel any doubts on whether this is true, it is worth looking up the minutes on budget disputes in the decades following 1867, the year Hungary reached a compromise with Austria that restored a measure of autonomy. Addresses by statesman Kálmán Tisza, and by novelist Mór Jókai, who was certainly not a financial expert, as well as administrative and finance policy publications of the time illustrate the point. It is actually surprising to see the vehemence behind the words of these respected historical figures and the contemporary character of their rhetoric. They utter scathing words on the “situation:” the chronic budget shortfall and the political inability to find a path leading to a “solution.” They tabled cries for a “complete” public finance reform, viewed as the generally propitious solution. They pointed out the need to clarify government tasks and, of course, the “unbearable burden” carried by businesses, the demand that it be reduced, and the “shameful” self-interest shown by the behavior of the opposition and/or the government. Nonetheless, today we look upon those times as an era of progress in state development and modernization.