Why Budgets Matter

Contents

List of Figures and Tables

Preface

Chapter One Perspectives on Budget Policy

Chapter Two The "Small Government" Era (1789–1860)

Chapter Three Budgeting for Government Growth (1860–1915)

Chapter Four The Transition to Modern Government (1915–1940)

Chapter Five War and Defense Budgets (1940–1970)

Chapter Six Social Welfare Budgets and Deficits (1970–1990)

Chapter Seven Reconciliation and Balanced Budgets (1990-2001)

Chapter Eight Destabilizing Budget Policy (2001– )

Selected Bibliography

Index

“This book is without doubt the best analysis yet written of federal budgeting from the late eighteenth century to the present. . . . The subject matter of this splendid book should therefore be of immense interest to students of political history and public policy.”

—Iwan Morgan, Journal of American History, on the first edition