UNDERSTANDING PUBLIC
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT:
HOW IS YOUR MONEY SPENT?
SOAS, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON

WEEK 2 HOW IS PUBLIC MONEY SPENT?

COMING UP NEXT WEEK

In Week 2, we examined how the public sector makes decisions about

expenditures. In many countries, there is a tendency towards increasing the
volume of public spending over time. This has helped expand the volume of
public programmes and to provide education, health, and welfare services to all
or most of the population.

The size of the public sector, however, is controversial. Some argue that the
public sector does not always use financial resources in an efficient and
effective way. It is very important, then, that we make use of methods and
techniques to appraise the performance of public sector spending.

Next week, we will focus our attention on how public sector organisations
acquire financial resources. We will see that taxation is a main source of
income for the public sector. There are several other ways for acquiring money
however, including user charges, concession fees, franchises, sale or renting of
assets, and exploitation of natural resources.

Which way of acquiring money works better than others? What kind of taxes
result in greater sources of income, and what are the effects of levying taxes
on the economy? Keep following the course next week, and we will share more
perspectives on revenues in the public sector.
 

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