Draft Federal Budget for 2011 Takes First Steps Towards Consolidation
With the trough of the recession following the global financial market crisis having been passed, fiscal policy is faced with the need to return to a sustainable path. The federal government targets a reduction of the general government deficit (in the Maastricht definition) below the ceiling of 3 percent of GDP as from 2012; subsequently, the deficit is to be lowered stepwise to 2.2 percent of GDP by 2014, with the public debt ratio levelling off at around 72 percent of GDP. Underlying the consolidation path for the period from 2011 to 2014 is a government programme that assigns, from an overall federal perspective, slightly more than half of deficit reduction to expenditure restraint, and somewhat less than half to higher taxes. For the federal budget, the expected savings cumulate to € 8.1 billion, while additional revenues amount to some € 6 billion.
Austria: Public Sector Inefficiencies Have Become Less Affordable
Performance of fiscal policy, while good in international comparison, is not sufficient to prepare for future ageing-related spending increases. Subject to macroeconomic developments, the pace of consolidation could be more ambitious than currently planned, with a view to reducing the debt burden below 60% of GDP by 2020. Austrian fiscal policies have tended to be pro-cyclical in upturns, mainly because spending was not adequately kept in check. Stronger fiscal rules and a reform of inter-governmental fiscal relations could help contain expenditure dynamics. Efficiency-raising reforms in key spending areas such as pensions and other social expenditures, health, and education are also highly needed to reduce spending and ensure the provision of high-quality public services at lower cost. In this regard, Austria should make full use of the performance budgeting framework it plans to introduce from 2013. Higher potential growth could also take off some of the pressure on public finances. There remains significant room to rebalance the tax structure towards less distortive sources of revenue, thus supporting employment and growth. Autriche : Les carences du secteur public sont de moins en moins supportables Les resultats de la politique budgetaire menee par les autorites autrichiennes sont bons par rapport a d’autres pays, mais insuffisants pour faire face aux augmentations des depenses qui seront induites par le vieillissement de la population dans les annees a venir. En tenant compte des developpements macroeconomiques, le rythme d’assainissement pourrait etre plus rapide que ce n’est actuellement le cas, de facon a ramener la dette au-dessous de 60 % du PIB d’ici 2020. Traditionnellement, la politique budgetaire en Autriche a toujours ete procyclique au cours des phases ascendantes en raison d’une maitrise insuffisante des depenses. Le renforcement des regles budgetaires et la reforme des relations budgetaires entre administrations pourraient contribuer a endiguer la hausse des depenses. De meme, des reformes visant a accroitre l’efficience des principales categories de depenses, comme les retraites et autres depenses sociales, la sante et l’education sont indispensables pour freiner les depenses et garantir des services publics de qualite a moindre cout. A cet egard, l’Autriche devrait recourir systematiquement au cadre de budgetisation dans l’optique des resultats qu’elle envisage de deployer en 2013. L’acceleration de la croissance potentielle pourrait egalement soulager les tensions qui s’exercent sur les finances publiques. Il reste encore beaucoup a faire pour reequilibrer la structure de la fiscalite au profit des sources de recettes provoquant le moins de distorsions, afin de soutenir l’emploi et la croissance.
Business Crime: Its Nature and Control
Part 1 The nature of business crime: business crime and organizational deviance the nature of business crime. Part 2 Empirical studies of business crime: employee crime and industrial relations - disputed definitions insurance fraud - can the insurance industry control it? taxation - enforcement, equity and effectiveness liquidations and receiverships - the battle for control, by Sally Wheeler financial institutions - securities and investments the regulation of industry - safety versus profits. Part 3 Control.