Standpunten en kanttekeningen

Begrotingsnormen: typologie en functies

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Abstract

Budgetary norms. Typology and functions - This article gives a general introduction to the theory of budgetary norms. A budgetary norm is defined as a rule that the government budget has to comply with to realize certain objectives. Alternatively, such a norm can be defined as the quantitative expression of the desired government intervention in terms of government receipts, expenditures or budget balance. The article gives an overall picture of the socalled ’classical’ and ’Keynesian’ budgetary norms. According to the so-called ’classical’ economic theory, government expenditures are not of a productive nature. These economists state that the only allowable task of a government is to allocate a limited number of public goods and services (such as education services, defence, public order and safety). The government must not resort to loans to finance expenditures. Following these classical ideas, no deficit may occur on the government budget balance. This normative conclusion conflicts with the common Keynesian economic theory, according to which the government has to play a stabilising role in the economy, especially during an economic crisis. According to the Keynesian economic theory, debt financing of government expenditures is permitted depending on certain macro-economic parameters. Subsequently, a brief review of the official norms is given as they are applied by the federal (central) or state government of Belgium and the Netherlands. Only once, was a budgetary norm for the Belgian central government set up by law, namely after the second oil crisis (1978). Finally, we discuss four important functions of a budgetary norm : the macro-economic function, the function of establishing priorities, the micro-economic function and the democratic function.

How to Cite:

De Meyer, J. & Schockaert, D., (1996) “Begrotingsnormen: typologie en functies”, Tijdschrift voor Sociale Wetenschappen 41(2), 206–220. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/tvsw.95235