Our paper reviews Marxist, pluralist and conservative theories of the state under capitalism from the standpoint of evidence on United States federal taxing and spending during the 1980s. The deficit panic is a product of the political stratum that defines the public interest as actions opposed...

The OECD has created a Joint Network on Fiscal Sustainability of Health Systems. This article, developed as input to that project, seeks to summarise both why budgeting for healthcare is particularly challenging and why the challenge is often misunderstood. I argue that sustainability is a...

Health programs are shaped by the decisions made in budget processes, so how budget-makers view health programs is an important part of making health policy. Budgeting in any country involves its own policy community, with key players including budgeting professionals and political authorities....

This stimulating set of articles provides intriguing information and comments about medical governance in four countries. The commentary argues that the typology of governance approaches is not as useful as one would want for understanding either the political prospects or policy effects of...

What is pollution? According to Peter H. Aranson, “Public policy regards as pollution any man-made or naturally occurring substance (for example, smoke or sewage) or condition (for exam- ple, noise, heat, or radiation) that is believed to threaten human health or economic welfare...