Fiscal Administration: Analysis and Applications for the Public Sector (Hardcover)

by John Mikesell (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
FISCAL ADMINISTRATION is based on two principles: that students must clearly understand the details of where the money for public budgets comes from; and that, to learn public finance and budgeting, students must "run the numbers." John Mikesell--an authority on the revenue side of public finance--focuses on his area of specialty, giving students detailed instruction that will equip them to deal with the complex issues and calculations they will encounter in the field. In most chapters, Mikesell includes questions and exercises that require calculations to get specific answers, as well as "Cases for Discussion" and "Sidebars" that supplement the regular text with more in-depth treatment of key topics. This edition also includes the most recent federal budget information, as well as the latest federal government fiscal data.

About the Author
John Mikesell holds a BA from Wabash College and both an MA and PhD in economics from the University of Illinois, where he specialized in public finance and taxation. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He is professor of public and environmental affairs at Indiana University and director of professional graduate programs for the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Professor Mikesell is editor-in-chief of PUBLIC BUDGETING AND FINANCE, the journal published by the American Association for Budget and Program Analysis and the Association for Budgeting and Financial Management, and his column on sales taxation is a regular feature of STATE TAX NOTES. Dr. Mikesell has served as chief fiscal economist with the USAID Barents Group/KPMG Peat Marwick fiscal reform project with the government of Ukraine, and as Moscow-based director for assistance in intergovernmental fiscal relations with the USAID Georgia State University Consortium Russian fiscal reform project. He has worked as consultant on World Bank missions to the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan, and has worked on fiscal studies for several state governments in the U.S. Mikesell is coauthor with John F. Due of SALES TAXATION, STATE AND LOCAL STRUCTURE AND ADMINISTRATION (Urban Institute Press). And his research on government finance and taxation has appeared in several journals, including NATIONAL TAX JOURNAL, PUBLIC BUDGETING AND FINANCE, and PUBLIC FINANCE QUARTERLY.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 672 pages
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing; 6 edition (October 3, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 015505855X
• ISBN-13: 978-0155058552
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 7.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #83,212 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Regarding Fiscal Administration, April 4, 2004

By A Customer

I am currently using this book for a graduate-level public budgeting course for a ranked MPA program. Mikesell's textbook is a poorly written, discursive and convoluted in scope. There are several basic grammatical errors in this textbook, and this is coming from someone whose first language is not English. The end-of-chapter computational problems are difficult to complete because nowhere in the chapters does the author explain how to do the problems.

There is also too much information crammed into each paragraph; I'm lucky if I can read three pages in a row in one sitting. The author does not write well; he uses too many block quotes and lists (e.g, (1), (2), (3)...). Therefore, this book does not read well, and the information he tries to provide does not register in the mind.

Most of my classmates have the same complaints as the ones I listed above. This book agitating for many to read, even for someone with a fairly solid economic background. Therefore, I'd strongly recommend not to use this book if at all possible.

But to balance out this criticism with some good points, the first chapter is relatively easy to read and useful.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Leaves something to be desired..., November 7, 2003

By	Matthew L Martin (The Plains, OH United States) - See all my reviews

I use this book in a public budgeting graduate class. For people with limited knowledge of public budgeting or fiscal administration in general, this book leaves much to be desired. A certain base knowledge is required and one must be able to decode the private language of budget scholars to understand the writings. Examples are frequently presented with no clear connection to the text. This book is regarded as one of the best, but I would not recommend it for anyone without prior knowledge of the subject or to someone looking for a quick and easy explanation of budgeting.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Mikesell needs to write more succinctly... please see Lee, Joyce and Johnson., October 19, 2005

By	Matthew S. Worner "Hokie Nation" (Alexandria, VA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Public Budgeting Systems by Robert D. Lee, Philip G. Joyce, and Ronald Wayne Johnson is written more clearly... if you have a choice, buy this book. The problem with Mikesell is that he has to write 200 pages (six chapters) to explain the concept of revenues in the budget process. Too many trees were wasted in the development of this book. Lee, Joyce, and Johnson can do this in 40 pages.

The greater majority of my Public Budgeting Systems class at George Mason University feels that the Mikesell book is written in a manner to lull oneself to sleep... the benefit is that one could read the book rather than using drugs to induce sleep.

However, if you are required to purchase the Mikesell book, you should go to the Amazon UK web site and complete your transaction there... you can save yourself about 70 to 80 dollars.