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Economics of state and local government
498
Reviews
Economics of State and Local Government. 271~. ISBN: O-275-93937-5. $19.95 (pbk).
By Henry J. Raimondo.
New York: Praeger,
1992.
Economics of State and Local Government provides a detailed review of the economic theories and concepts, as well as the statistical data, on revenue sources for state and local government in the United States. The first five chapters provide general background on the role and economics of state and local government in the United States and a review of the various concepts of U.S. federalism over time. Chapter 6 provides a detailed discussion of the financing of public elementary and secondary education, with a special focus on the responses to the court cases relating to the equity of educational funding and various state responses. The next five chapters review the various sources of revenue (property, sales, and income taxes as well as user charges and gambling revenues). Chapter 12 analyzes data on taxes, income, and expenditures at the state and local level. The last chapter looks at federal and state grants-in-aid to state and local jurisdictions. While Raimondo does a good job of providing the background to the relationship between state and local governments in the federal system, most of the research and data he cites are from the mid-1980s. In part, this results from his extensive use of the Census Bureau’s 1988 Census oj Government and Government Finances. Many of his other references are even more dated, such as the use of 1960 data in his analysis of spending, taxes, and distribution of personal income in Chapter 12. Given this limitation, which may be more of a limitation of the extent of current research in the area than any fault of the author, Raimondo generally provides a clear explanation of the economic theories that underlie his analysis of the data. While the text is well laid out and readable, the tables appear to have been produced on the author’s printer and do not have the finished look of the text. Some tables include data from a variety of sources gathered at different times, but the reader has difficulty distinguishing among the various sources as represented in the table (Table 5-l in Chapter 5 includes one 1965 source and two 1974 sources as well as 1985-1986 source not cited in the table). The index is helpful, but it could have been made even more useful if all references to concepts had been consistently included. While coverage of some concepts appear to be complete, others, such as “the theory of clubs” and “Tiebout model” include only the first or second occurrence in the text and not the remainder. Some concepts, such as “Baumol’s disease, ” are not indexed at all, but do have references in the text. From the perspective of someone working with state and local documents, Economics of State and Local Government provides a good tutorial on the theories and philosophical basis for various state financial revenue sources as well as a possible model for future research and analysis as more current data becomes available. The work is an excellent example of the utilization of federal and state data sources to analyze policies and trends in state and local governments. The work does tend to focus more on revenues than on expenditures, and to that extent, the title Economics of State and Local Government might be considered a bit misleading. In addition to those interested in state and local government, the work should be of interest to public librarians who wish to gain a perspective of state and local economics. Libraries are mentioned only once, (Chapter 5, Table 5-l), but clearly much of the discussion of policy and financing of other local institutions could be applied to public libraries. In fact, it would be interesting to see someone develop an analysis following the model put forth by Raimondo to analyze the situation with libraries in the various states and local jurisdictions using current data on public library financing. Such an analysis should prove to be very interesting. TERRY L. WEECH GSLIS University of Illinois Urbana, IL 61801 USA
Parliamentary Holdings in Libraries in Britain and Ireland. By David Lewis Jones and Chris Pond. Westminster: House of Commons Library, 1993. 202~. Index. Free to libraries returning questionnaires; f10 to others. Available from the Parliamentary Bookshop, 12 Bridge St., Westminster SWl, United Kingdom. In 1982 the Public Information Office of the House of Commons published Access to Parliamentary Resources and Information in London Libraries (APRILL), of which three subsequent editions have
Reviews
Economics of State and Local Government. 271~. ISBN: O-275-93937-5. $19.95 (pbk).
By Henry J. Raimondo.
New York: Praeger,
1992.
Economics of State and Local Government provides a detailed review of the economic theories and concepts, as well as the statistical data, on revenue sources for state and local government in the United States. The first five chapters provide general background on the role and economics of state and local government in the United States and a review of the various concepts of U.S. federalism over time. Chapter 6 provides a detailed discussion of the financing of public elementary and secondary education, with a special focus on the responses to the court cases relating to the equity of educational funding and various state responses. The next five chapters review the various sources of revenue (property, sales, and income taxes as well as user charges and gambling revenues). Chapter 12 analyzes data on taxes, income, and expenditures at the state and local level. The last chapter looks at federal and state grants-in-aid to state and local jurisdictions. While Raimondo does a good job of providing the background to the relationship between state and local governments in the federal system, most of the research and data he cites are from the mid-1980s. In part, this results from his extensive use of the Census Bureau’s 1988 Census oj Government and Government Finances. Many of his other references are even more dated, such as the use of 1960 data in his analysis of spending, taxes, and distribution of personal income in Chapter 12. Given this limitation, which may be more of a limitation of the extent of current research in the area than any fault of the author, Raimondo generally provides a clear explanation of the economic theories that underlie his analysis of the data. While the text is well laid out and readable, the tables appear to have been produced on the author’s printer and do not have the finished look of the text. Some tables include data from a variety of sources gathered at different times, but the reader has difficulty distinguishing among the various sources as represented in the table (Table 5-l in Chapter 5 includes one 1965 source and two 1974 sources as well as 1985-1986 source not cited in the table). The index is helpful, but it could have been made even more useful if all references to concepts had been consistently included. While coverage of some concepts appear to be complete, others, such as “the theory of clubs” and “Tiebout model” include only the first or second occurrence in the text and not the remainder. Some concepts, such as “Baumol’s disease, ” are not indexed at all, but do have references in the text. From the perspective of someone working with state and local documents, Economics of State and Local Government provides a good tutorial on the theories and philosophical basis for various state financial revenue sources as well as a possible model for future research and analysis as more current data becomes available. The work is an excellent example of the utilization of federal and state data sources to analyze policies and trends in state and local governments. The work does tend to focus more on revenues than on expenditures, and to that extent, the title Economics of State and Local Government might be considered a bit misleading. In addition to those interested in state and local government, the work should be of interest to public librarians who wish to gain a perspective of state and local economics. Libraries are mentioned only once, (Chapter 5, Table 5-l), but clearly much of the discussion of policy and financing of other local institutions could be applied to public libraries. In fact, it would be interesting to see someone develop an analysis following the model put forth by Raimondo to analyze the situation with libraries in the various states and local jurisdictions using current data on public library financing. Such an analysis should prove to be very interesting. TERRY L. WEECH GSLIS University of Illinois Urbana, IL 61801 USA
Parliamentary Holdings in Libraries in Britain and Ireland. By David Lewis Jones and Chris Pond. Westminster: House of Commons Library, 1993. 202~. Index. Free to libraries returning questionnaires; f10 to others. Available from the Parliamentary Bookshop, 12 Bridge St., Westminster SWl, United Kingdom. In 1982 the Public Information Office of the House of Commons published Access to Parliamentary Resources and Information in London Libraries (APRILL), of which three subsequent editions have