The global debt crisis : haunting U.S. and European federalism / Paul E. Peterson and Daniel J. Nadler, editors.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Debt crises have placed strains not only on the European Union's nascent federal system but also on the federal system in the United States. Old confrontations over fiscal responsibility are being renewed, often in a more virulent form, in places as far flung as Detroit, Michigan, and Valencia, Spain, to say nothing of Greece and Cyprus. Increasing the complexity of the issue has been public sector collective bargaining, now a component of most federal systems.

The attendant political controversies have become the debate of a generation. Paul Peterson and Daniel Nadler have assembled experts from both sides of the Atlantic to break down the structural flaws in federal systems of government that have led to economic and political turmoil. Proposed solutions offer ways to preserve and restore vibrant federal systems that meet the needs of communities struggling for survival in an increasingly unified global economy.

Contributors: Andrew G. Biggs (American Enterprise Institute); César Colino (National Distance Education University, Madrid); Eloísa del Pino (Instituto de Políticas y Bienes Públicos, Madrid); Henrik Enderlein (Hertie School of Governance, Berlin); Cory Koedel (University of Missouri); Carlos Xabel Lastra-Anadón (Harvard University); Daniel Nadler (Harvard University); Shawn Ni (University of Missouri); Amy Nugent (Government of Ontario, Canada); James Pearce (Mowat Centre, University of Toronto, Canada); Paul E. Peterson (Harvard University); Michael Podgursky (University of Missouri); Jason Richwine (Washington, D.C.); Jonathan Rodden (Stanford Uni versity); Daniel Shoag (Harvard University); Richard Simeon (University of Toronto, Canada); Camillo von Müller (University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, and Leuphana University, Germany); Daniel Ziblatt (Harvard University)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Peterson and Nadler (both, Harvard Univ.) have assembled a wide-ranging, informative, and important collection of essays on the threat government debts pose to federalism around the world. The volume begins by reviewing the conflicts of interest between central and local governments that federalism must confront, particularly in terms of fiscal policy. Following two introductory chapters, the first half of the volume (four chapters) provides a thorough treatment of US federalism, state debt, state pension obligations (mostly regarding underfunded public teacher pensions), and state default risk. The second half of the volume (five chapters) describes the tenuous nature of federalism in the European Union, Germany, Spain, and Canada from historical, political, and economic perspectives. This is an exceptional collection of essays for all academic levels, with important and fascinating accounts in each essay. Peterson and Nadler have solicited an ideal assortment of case studies, providing readers with a wide range of historical circumstances that have led to similar, yet ultimately different, struggles for federalism around the world. Summing Up: Highly Recommended. All readers. --Robert J. Lemke, Lake Forest College