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Principles of Public Policy Practice was written with policy makers, concerned citizens, and students of public policy in mind. Striving to avoid technical language, the author introduces a new paradigm that starts from the commonality of human nature and the assumption that public policy should be impartial. Rather than playing the interests of one group versus those of another, he argues convincingly that public policy should aim at enhancing the ex ante welfare for everyone if everyone did not know the position or the identity one would assume.
Using this conceptual device of the representative individual, the analysis readily leads to policy implications that are both reasonable and concrete in diverse areas ranging from health care, crime and punishment to macroeconomic and financial market stability. The book concludes with a chapter summarizing the various principles of public policy practice that will meet the challenges of the new millennium. These principles, certainly of interest to academics in social sciences who are studying public policy, political economy, international financial systems, and capital markets, should appeal equally to practitioners, including public policy makers, consultants, advisers, administrators, and public service trade unions.
List of contents
1 Introduction.- 1 The Theory of Public Policy Design.- 2 What Makes Good Public Policy.- 3 Human Nature and Public Policy.- 4 Institutional Foundations for a Just Society.- 2 Microeconomic Risk Management.- 5 Health Care Delivery and Financing: In Search of an Ideal Model.- 6 Legal Aid and Justice.- 7 Bank Deposit Insurance.- 8 Towards an Optimal Public Pension Scheme.- 3 Macroeconomic Risk Management.- 9 The Risks of Monetary Crises: Inflation.- 10 The Risks of Monetary Crises: Currency Crises and Interest Rate Gyrations.- 11 Savings Instruments, Bubbles, and Financial Crises.- 12 Transparency.- 4 Resource Allocation and Redistribution.- 13 Optimal Size of the Government.- 14 Education Policy.- 15 Housing (with a Digression on Transportation Pricing).- 16 Social Safety Net and Redistribution.- 5 Public Policy and Economic Ecology.- 17 Economic Ecology: The Case of the Great Depression of the Nineteen Thirties.- 18 Economic Ecology: The Case of Hong Kong.- Epilogue.- 19 Public Policy in the New Millennium.- References.
Summary
Principles of Public Policy Practice was written with policy makers, concerned citizens, and students of public policy in mind. Striving to avoid technical language, the author introduces a new paradigm that starts from the commonality of human nature and the assumption that public policy should be impartial. Rather than playing the interests of one group versus those of another, he argues convincingly that public policy should aim at enhancing the ex ante welfare for everyone if everyone did not know the position or the identity one would assume.
Using this conceptual device of the representative individual, the analysis readily leads to policy implications that are both reasonable and concrete in diverse areas ranging from health care, crime and punishment to macroeconomic and financial market stability. The book concludes with a chapter summarizing the various principles of public policy practice that will meet the challenges of the new millennium. These principles, certainly of interest to academics in social sciences who are studying public policy, political economy, international financial systems, and capital markets, should appeal equally to practitioners, including public policy makers, consultants, advisers, administrators, and public service trade unions.
