Better Spending for Better Lives: How Latin America and the Caribbean Can Do More with Less
Peer Reviewed
Date issued
September 2018
English epub
English mobi
Spanish epub
Spanish mobi
Online Content
Subject
Public Expenditure;
Fiscal Policy;
Political Economy;
Infrastructure Development;
Health;
Citizen Security and Crime Prevention;
Productive Efficiency
JEL code
H54 - Infrastructures • Other Public Investment and Capital Stock;
H53 - Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs;
H51 - Government Expenditures and Health;
I14 - Health and Inequality;
H55 - Social Security and Public Pensions;
E26 - Informal Economy • Underground Economy;
H52 - Government Expenditures and Education;
I15 - Health and Economic Development
IDB series
Development in the Americas
Category
Books
Public spending has climbed in Latin America and the Caribbean. Riding a commodity windfall and low interest rates, many governments in the region tried to spend their way into the future. Unfortunately, the party is over and policymakers must find a way to keep their economies growing and their citizens happy in a fiscally sustainable manner. The traditional answer to this moment of truth has been to simply cut spending across the board. This book suggests there is another way out. Even if governments need to spend less in aggregate, the same or even more services can be provided if ways are found to be smarter about spending, to be more efficient, in short, to make every penny count.
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