本书系统地介绍了公共经济学和财政学的基本原理,并讨论了理论在公共政策中的当代应用,将理论与实践有机地结合起来。全书共分五篇,分别为:政府活动的经济基础、美国的政府支出与政策的若干问题、为政府支出融资、税收的理论与结构、州和地方政府财政。
该书被美国耶鲁大学、加州州立大学洛杉矶分校、波士顿大学**百余所大学选做财政教材。

To be eligible for benefits, a worker must have worked and paid the tax on acertain minimum amount of earnings. Forty quarters of coverage (10 years of covered work) qualifies a worker for Social Security retirement benefits. The monetary amount of the pension that a worker receives depends on previous earnings history, marital status, dependents, and the amount of time that Social Security taxes have been paid by the worker.
Unemployment insurance benefits are financed by a special tax on payrolls levied on employers alone. They are administered by state governments, and some variation in eligibility and benefits paid exists among the states. On average, how-ever, the unemployment benefits equal about one-third of the wages previously earned, up to a certain limit. Benefits are usually paid for a maximum period of26 weeks; however, they can be extended automatically during a period of high unemployment. In periods of deep recession and other extraordinary circumstances, Congress can enact legislation that extends benefits for even longer periods. Benefits are available to all workers who, through no fault of their own, involuntarily lose their jobs and whose previous employers paid unemployment insurance taxes on the workers' behalf. No means test is required to be eligible for benefits.
Social insurance and Social Security pensions are transfer programs open toall workers regardless of their income. However, the way in which benefits repaid can affect the income distribution somewhat, because they are distributed according to the worker's wages. Low-income workers receive benefits that are higher proportions of their preretirement earnings than higher-income workers or workers for whom nonwage sources of income are relatively important. All workers in jobs covered by the Social Security system must pay the Social Security tax, as must their employers, regardless of their own personal circum-stances or evaluation of the program's future benefits
…… 在当前经济全球化的背景下,中国经济的发展需要大量具备扎实理论功底、了解国际规则、能够适应国际竞争需要的**的经济管理人才,所以,大力开展双语教学,适当引进和借鉴国外**的原版教材,是加快中国经济管理教育步伐,使之走向国际化的一条捷径。为此,北京大学出版社与国外**出版公司麦格劳一希尔教育出版公司和汤姆森学习出版集团合作推出了《经济与金融经典入门教材》和《管理学经典入门教材》两套系列丛书,这两套丛书的大部���均同时包含英文版和翻译版,主要针对本科层次,目前首先推出英文版(英文影印版/英文改编版)。丛书的筛选完全是本着“出新、出好、出精”的原则,均经过北京大学及国内其他**高校相关学者的精心挑选,分别汇集了国外经济与金融和管理学领域的经典教材,称得上是一套优中选精的丛书。
鉴于外版教材大多篇幅过长,且其中某些内容不适合我国的教学实际需要,因而我们对部分所选图书进行了必要的删节,成为英文改编版。在选书和删节的过程中,我们得到了许多老师的大力支持和帮助,在此,我们对他们表示衷心的感谢:
北京大学光华管理学院:张一弛、张志学、杨云红、雷明、武常岐、张红霞、陆正飞、黄慧馨
中国人民大学:李先国、杨波、胡波
中国农业大学管理学院:陆娟
中山大学岭南学院:贾佳
天津财经大学财政系:张进昌
哈尔滨工业大学工商管理学院:张莉、李国鑫
这两套丛书是对国外原版教材的直接或删节后影印,由于各个**政治、经济、文化背景的不同,对于书中所持观点还请广大读者在阅读过程中注意加以分析和鉴别。另外,我们在对原版图书进行删节、重新编排页码的同时,为了便于读者核对使用索引,仍保留了原书的页码,因此读者在阅读过程中可能会发现有跳页现象,而且由于删节,某些文中提到的页码或内容有可能无法找到,对于由此给读者带来的诸多不便,我们深表歉意,恳请您的谅解。
我们期望本套教材的出版可以对我国经济管理学科的教学,尤其是经济管理专业本科的教学有所裨益,能够对我国经济管理学科的发展有所贡献。
一套丛书的推出和不断完善离不开大家的支持和帮助,我们也欢迎所有关心中国经济管理学科教育和发展的专家和学者及广大读者,给我们提出宝贵的意见和建议,诚挚地希望您能向我们**您所接触到的国外**的经济管理类图书。

PART ONE THE ECONOMIC BASIS OF GOVERNMENT ACTIVITY
CHAPTER 1 Individuals and Government
CHAPTER 2 Efficiency, Markets, and Governments
CHAPTER 3 Externalities and Government Policy
CHAPTER 4 Public Goods
CHAPTER 5 Public Choice and the Political Process
PART TW0 GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURES AND POLICY IN THE UNITED STATES: SELECTED ISSUES
CHAPTER 6 Cost-Benefit Analysis and Government Investments
CHAPTER 7 Government Subsidies and Income Support for the Poor
CHAPTER 8 Social Security and Social Insurance
CHAPTER 9 Government and Health Care
PART THREE FINANCING GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURES
CHAPTER 10 Introduction to Government Finance
CHAPTER 11 Taxation, Prices, Effidency and the Distribution of Income
CHAPTER 12 Budget Balance and Government Debt
PART FOUR TAXATION: THEORY AND STRUCTURE
CHAPTER 13 The Theory of Income Taxation
CHAPTER 14 Taxation of Personal Income in the United States
CHAPTER 15 Taxation of Corporate Income
CHAPTER 16 Taxes on Consumption and Sales
CHAPTER 17 Taxes on Wealth, Property, and Estates
PART FIVE STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE
CHAPTER 18 Fiscal Federalism and State and Local Government Finance
Giossary
Index
……