The history of the Netherlands reveals major shifts from centralisation of government tasks towards decentralisation and vice versa. In the seventeenth century, the Republic of United Provinces was the first federal state in modern history. Many transformations later the Kingdom of the...

According to the IMF and OECD, the Dutch fiscal framework is rather unique, and its design and implementation are highly recommendable. This paper describes this framework, its role in managing Dutch public expenditure, its history, the most recent national discussions and the role of the CPB....