POLICY BUDGET

AGENDA EVALUATE

FORMULATE BUDGET

IMPLEMENT
BUDGET

PLAN FOR RAISING

AND SPENDING
MONEY

“The budget is the ultimate policy statement.”

BUDGET RELEVANCE
LINKS GOVERNMENT Without budget, nothing can
RESOURCES WITH PURPOSES happen

LIES AT THE HEART OF THE Who gets, what, when and

POLITICAL PROCESS how

IMPLIES LIMITS, CONTRAINTS, Force hard choices

SCARCITY

REVEALS VALUES Force explicit choices

among goals
BUDGET MAKING

Too many decisions must be made by

too many parties in too complicated
process with too little information and
with too little time

Averts risk, reinforces an existing

equilibrium of political forces, averts
intense conflict, understood by all

Focus more closely on few new

government programs

“The best guide for this year’s budget is last year’s budget,
plus or minus a small percentage.”