The Higher Education White Paper: The Good,the Bad,the Unspeakable – and the Next White Paper1

This article argues that reforms of higher education finance for undergraduates in England introduced by the Blair government in 2006 provided a progressive strategy for achieving the central objectives of higher education of quality (better), access (wider) and size (larger). Reforms in 2012 are a not a strategy but a collection of ad hoc arrangements. They include the good (a higher fees cap, a higher interest rate on student loans, better information and improved support for part‐time study), the bad (abolishing most taxpayer support for teaching in the arts and humanities and the social sciences, and raising excessively the threshold at which loan repayments start) and the unspeakable (abolishing Education Maintenance Allowances and AimHigher). The reforms are fiscally costly and hence perpetuate the central problem of capped student numbers, and will not stand the test of time. The concluding section outlines the next White Paper.     

浅析我国货币政策独立性与通货膨胀的关系——兼论2011年通胀

本轮自2008年底开始的经济衰退,在"适度宽松的货币政策"及积极财政政策的配合作用下,经济增长很快走出了低谷,效果明显。但自2010年下半年尤其是2011年却出现了较高的通货膨胀。本文从货币政策独立性的角度分析了通胀形成的原因。认为中央银行缺乏足够的独立性、财政政策货币化、缺乏弹性的汇率制度导致货币政策缺乏独立性,使得货币供应量失控并导致了通货膨胀。     

网约打车交易宏观核算机理研究

网约打车是打车交易中的新模式,同时也为打车交易的核算带来了新问题。目前,关于网约打车交易宏观核算的研究尚属空白,本文就此问题进行了研究。本文首先根据我国巡游出租车和网约车的运营现状,分析了打车交易中的机构单位识别问题,在此基础上,对网约打车交易的核算方法进行了探讨,包括基本交易的核算和补贴的核算。本文的主要贡献在于：其一,弥补了网约打车交易核算研究的空白;其二,深入剖析了网约打车交易的核算机理,对网约打车交易中各类经济主体的核算属性以及打车软件公司所支付的各类补贴的核算方法都有详细讨论;其三,归纳了网约打车模式对GDP的影响。总的来说,本文对网约打车交易核算机理的讨论对于解决当前围绕数字经济和分享经济等产生的核算难题有一定的启发意义。     

Has the Nordic Welfare Model Been Transformed?

The Nordic welfare model is undergoing a fundamental transformation. Using Denmark we show how a universal welfare state model is gradually being transformed into an emergent multi‐tiered welfare state. Whereas the Danish pension system's having become multi‐tiered in the 1990s, with private schemes – collective and individual – supplementing public schemes is well documented, scant attention has focused on more recent developments in other areas of the welfare state. This article shows how the multi‐tiered welfare state spread in the 2000s to policies for families, the unemployed and the sick. Although Denmark still offers universal coverage in core welfare state areas, the increased use of occupational and fiscal welfare as well as changes in public schemes has gradually transformed the nation into a multi‐tiered welfare state that is more dualistic and individualistic, with participation in the labour market becoming still more important for entitlement to benefits. These profound changes have taken place in such a way that although core characteristics are still in place, new structures and understandings of the welfare state are also developing. Thus classical typologies need revision, so that they include more focus on this combination of universality and institutional attachment to the labour market. Moreover, measures of what welfare comprises should include not only public but also private elements.     

府际税收竞争的财税法审思

府际管理以多方参与为特征,以互动博弈为手段,以区域利益最大化为目标,是政府关系梳理的有效范式。府际治理作为解释政府政策与行为的一种分析方法,以问题解决为导向,是政府组织重塑、政府政策革新、政府行为再造的风向标。以府际关系为理论分析范式可将税收竞争分为纵向府际税收竞争、横向府际税收竞争、斜向府际税收竞争和跨域府际税收竞争。通过理论考察与实践解析探明府际关系的规律,明晰府际税收竞争的原因、方式与路径,认为地方财政能力的提升不仅应重点关注静态的制度调整,还应将动态的税收竞争纳入分析范围,并提出以区域合作机制重塑府际税收竞争模式,以财税法律规范府际税收竞争行为,以公私合作制消弭有害税收竞争动机。     

The Medicare Assignment Controversy

The conflict between the elderly and organized medicine over "mandatory assignment" and "balance billing" is a significant public policy issue. Considerable ideological importance has been attached to this conflict by both sides, despite the relatively modest proportion of total revenue for physician services received through balance billing in payment for care of Medicare beneficiaries. The positions of these two coalitions are examined as well as the effort of the Physician Payment Review Commission (PPRC) to craft a public policy response. Three alternative resolutions-those adopted by Congress in 1989 on the recommendation of the PPRC, the Canadian solution, and actions taken on a state level-are then contrasted. The concentrated impact on the elderly of balance billing practices is considered as a problem, especially for elderly of limited income and resources. Justification of the practice is typically provided by the profession on thc ideological grounds of preservation of professional autonomy rather than economic gain, which also reflects the current relatively limited use of balance billing; a significant majority of all claims submitted in the United States are now assigned to physicians. A continuation of the gradualist strategy of the PPRC is endorsed as thc most appropriate short-range solution to these problems, which diminish in significance with a more comprehensive national health financing scheme.     

从美国当前的“财政悬崖”反观中国经济发展的“稳中求进”

金融危机后,美国出现了“财政悬崖”,但中国经济不仅发展平稳,而且“稳中求进”。美国资本主义的本质因素如社会制度、多党制的党际之争、自由市场经济的发展、垄断集团的恶性竞争等是造成“财政悬崖”的根本原因;中国“稳中求进”的发展基调既是中国当前应对世界经济危机的有效措施,也是科学发展的内在要求,更是社会主义制度优越性的体现。面对金融危机中美两国出现经济发展巨大差距的最根本原因是资本主义与社会主义社会制度的不同。     

A Study of Productive Expenditure Bias in County-level Finance in China

中国县级决策者主要对上级负责 , 追求尽可能高的经济增长率 , 而非居民福利最 大化 , 导致其财政决策偏向生产性支出。基于2067个县(市)2001—2005年财政经济 数据的实证检验,为县级财政生产性支出偏向的存在提供了有力的证据。生产性支出 偏向严重地妨碍公共财政体制的建设和向公共服务型政府的转型。解决这一问题的根 本出路在于逐步增强县级政府满足本地居民需求的激励。

关键词: 财政支出结构 财政支出偏向 县级政府

Being responsible mainly to their superiors, decision-makers at the county level in China pursue the maximum growth rate rather than their residents’ welfare. This leads to a preference for productive expenditure in their fiscal decisions. An empirical test based on 2,067 counties (cities) provides robust evidence for the existence of productive expenditure bias at the county level. Such bias causes a serious impediment to the construction of a system of public finance and the transformation to public service-oriented government in China. An appropriate solution to this problem is to gradually enhance incentives for county- level governments to satisfy the demands of local residents.     

Social programs and household size: evidence from New York city

What determines how many adults live in a house? How do people divide themselves up among households? Average household sizes vary substantially, both over time and in the cross-section. In this paper, we describe how a variety of government policies affect living arrangements, intentionally or not. Using data from a survey of households in New York City, we find that these incentives appear to have an impact. Specifically, households receiving these housing and income subsidies are smaller on average (measured by number of adults). The impacts appear to be considerably larger than those that would occur if the programs were lump-sum transfers. Small average household size can be extremely expensive in terms of physical and environmental resources, higher rents, and possibly homelessness. Thus, we encourage policymakers to pay greater heed to the provisions built into various social policies that favor smaller households.     

桑弘羊的财政政策及其当代价值新论

西汉著名理财家桑弘羊在其富国思想下推行的盐铁官营、均输平准等一系列财政政策,达到了“民不益赋而国用丰饶”的目的。桑弘羊的财政政策体现了财政的阶级性、强制性与公共性的统一,而其财政思想对解决我国财政政策当中存在的观念问题、目标导向及操作手段有一定借鉴意义。