This edited book provides a comprehensive and integrated understanding of the public sector’s role in building economic and social resilience. It focuses on how public finance and economic policy can best support countries’ ability to absorb emerging shocks as well as adapt to evolving circumstances.
The experiences of recent years, including multiple fiscal crises and the global pandemic, have shown that most economies are not prepared for rapidly changing conditions where uncertainty is a recurring theme. At the same time, social trust in public institutions has been eroding globally. Through a variety of perspectives, such as the role of taxation, social safety nets, public sector employment, public budgeting, and urban development, the book critically assesses existing weaknesses in the public sector and identifies solutions to foster resilience against future uncertainty. Against a political and economic context of increasing inequality and instability, the chapters demonstrate how public finance can help create the conditions for a stronger economy that supports economic stability and the labour market, encourages infrastructure and innovation, and promotes public health and environmental protection. This book is a fascinating read for academics in public finance, accounting, welfare economics, and labour economics, as well as professionals working in the spheres of public policy and governance.