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Private Interest, Public Spending*

Balanced-Budget Conservatism and the Fiscal Crisis

William Scheuerman, Sidney Plotkin

Extremely informative about the political trends that exist and about the political economic system of business dealing with government.
The Activist

URBAN STUDIES

280 pages, index

Paperback ISBN: 1-895431-98-0 $19.99
Hardcover ISBN: 1-895431-99-9 $48.99

Prices are in Canadian dollars in Canada and in U.S. dollars elsewhere.


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PRIVATE INTEREST, PUBLIC SPENDING Balanced-Budget Conservatism & the Fiscal Crisis Sidney Plotkin & William E. Scheuerman Description: This book goes against the grain of current conservative thinking to provide a radical democratic critique of deficit policies. The book exposes the many ways conservatives have used the federal deficit issue to deflect attention from the real economic troubles facing working people: unemployment, falling wages, and economic insecurity. In a brilliant case study of Mario Cuomo's New York, the authors demonstrate the impact of budget cuts, tax policy and corporate development on human services, showing that social needs cannot be met as long as "efficiency" is prioritized over equity. Building on their careful critique of US political economy, the authors offer a richly detailed inside look at how public sector unions have fought balanced-budget conservatism. Contents: The Roots of Balanced-Budget Conservatism. The Fractured Political Economy. Whose Debt to Whom? Balanced-Budget Conservatism and the Squeeze on the States. The Fractured Majority. Democratic Failure and Middle-Class Reaction. A Case Study of New York. New York State Turns to the Right. business Reorganizes. Unions Strike Back. Whose Deficit, Whose Plan, Whose Power? Sidney Plotkin is a professor of Political Science at Vassar College and the author of Keep Out: The Struggle for Land Use Control. William E. Scheuerman is New York vice-president of the United University Professions, the largest higher-education union in the US. He is author of The Steel Crisis: The Economics and Politics of a Declining Industry. 303 pages, references, index . ISBN: 1-895431-98-0@TITLE = @TITNSP = PRIVATE INTEREST, PUBLIC SPENDING @SUBTITLE = Balanced-Budget Conservatism and the Fiscal Crisis @AUTHOR = WILLIAM E. SCHEUERMAN AND SIDNEY PLOTKIN @BULNSP = Demonstrates the impact of budget cuts and tax policy on human services. @BULLET = Traces the progress by which government has abandoned public functions. @BULLET2 = Of particular interest to government workers, social justice activists, and students of political science, political economy, and urban development. @BODYTGT = In a brilliant case study of New York, the authors show how social needs cannot be met as long as efficiency is prioritized over equity. Significantly, they link race conflict (and the rise of separatist politics among some communities of colour) to poor peoples' generalized disenchantment with public services. @BODYTGT = In contrast to both conservative and liberal ideologues, they conclude that the only way to meet the human needs of the oppressed in the future is to reorganize society along more egalitarian and democratic lines. William E. Scheuerman is a state-wide vice-president of the United University Professions. He is the author of The Steel Crisis: The Economics and Politics of a Declining Industry. Sidney Plotkin is a professor of political science at Vassar College and the author of Keep Out: The Struggle for Land Use Control.