Fiscal Transparency And The Public Purse

During the recent pandemic, unprecedented public spending was required to help tackle the deadly disease and minimise its economic fallout. But faced with heightened uncertainty, rapidly changing conditions, and imperfect information, fiscal transparency was perhaps not at the forefront of politicians’ minds when making important public investment and spending decisions.  Post-pandemic, in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, and on the edges of a recession, there is a greater desire to understand the government’s fiscal position and policies. In order to understand exactly what’s going on, a degree of fiscal transparency – which refers to the publication of information on how governments raise, spend, and manage public resources – is needed.  We are joined by Dr Mike Seiferling, Assistant Professor in Public Finance here in the Department of Political Science at UCL and an expert (and former economist) at the IMF. Mike discusses the cost of non-transparency, and the importance of citizen engagement and civil society organizations in promoting fiscal transparency and accountability in government asset management. Mentioned in this episode:Seiferling, M. and Tareq, S.  ‘Hiding the Losses: Fiscal Transparency and the Performance of Government Portfolios of Financial Assets’Hameed, Farhan, Fiscal Transparency and Economic Outcomes (December 2005). IMF Working Paper No. 05/225, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=888094
UCL’s Department of Political Science and School of Public Policy offers a uniquely stimulating environment for the study of all fields of politics, including international relations, political theory, human rights, public policy-making and administration. The Department is recognised for its world-class research and policy impact, ranking among the top departments in the UK on both the 2021 Research Excellence Framework and the latest Guardian rankings.