مالیه عمومی و خط مشی عمومی: یک کتاب درسی جدید: بررسی مالیه عمومی و سیاست عمومی: مسئولیت ها و محدودیت ها از دولت، Arye L. هیلمن، انتشارات دانشگاه کمبریج، 2003، ص. 766، ISBN 0-521-00114-5 (شومیز) و یا 0-521-80641-0 (جلد گالینگور)

What are the responsibilities and limitations of government? By drawing on insights from normative public finance, public choice, and new political economy, Arye L. Hillman's textbook on public finance provides an engaging, clear, and well-organised introduction to the subject and defines a framework within which answers to this question can be given. The book will not only be of value to undergraduate teaching in public finance, but will also appeal to graduate students, academics and policymakers who want a concise and up-to-date overview of the main ideas and developments in the area.

Governments around the world are each year trusted with substantial resources by their citizens, in some cases more than 40% of GDP. What governments do with these resources as well as the methods they use to raise them in the first place greatly affect human wellbeing. Public finance, as an academic discipline, is devoted to the task of understanding the responsibilities and limitations of government, and, today, a rich and varied body of knowledge on the subject exists. A key task of university education in economics is to pass on this knowledge to students, who as citizens, as government officials, as politicians or in some other future capacity will have to make choices about public policy in one way or the other. Arye L. Hillman's textbook, “Public Finance and Public Policy, Responsibilities and Limitations of Government,” is devoted precisely to that task. By drawing on insights from normative public finance, public choice, and new political economy, it passes on this inheritance in an engaging, clear, and well-organised fashion that will give a boost to undergraduate teaching in public finance. A significant achievement of the book is to strike a fine balance between normative and positive aspects of public finance—a balance that is essential for a comprehensive understanding of what governments can and should do.

The feedback from the students at Cambridge (UK) that have read the book suggests that it is going to be a hit with undergraduates in the early stages of their studies. One student even suggested an alternative way of approaching the book: read the questions at the end of the chapter first and try to answer them; then read the chapter, and go over the questions again to see if you have changed your mind. It will also be a useful starting point for more advanced students, scholars and policymakers who want a well-organised, up-to-date, and non-technical overview of key ideas and an entry to the latest literature. What makes “Public Finance and Public Policy” special and of interest to a broader audience is in large part (i) the comprehensive discussion of the role of government in overseeing the rule of law; (ii) the integrated discussion of the cost of taxation and provision of public goods (and services); (iii) the suggestion that social justice can be understood as social insurance. In conclusion, “Public Finance and Public Policy” is a well-integrated and engaging text that has the potential to become the industry standard in undergraduate public finance courses.