Public Net Worth

This important book…is a call for sensible change. It should be answered. —Martin Wolf, Chief Economics Commentator, Financial Times 

As individuals, we depend on the services that governments provide. Collectively, we look to them to tackle the big problems – from long-term climate and demographic change to short-term crises like pandemics or war. Funding this activity, and managing the required fi nances sustainably, is diffi cult – and getting more so. 

But governments don’t provide – or use – basic fi nancial information that every business is required to maintain. They ignore the value of public assets and most liabilities. This leads to ineffi ciency and bad decision-making and piles up problems for the future. 

Governments need to create balance sheets that properly refl ect assets and liabilities, and to understand their future obligations and revenue prospects. Net Worth – both today and for the future – should be the measure of fi nancial strength and success.

Only if this information is put at the centre of government fi nancial decision-making can the present challenges to public fi nances around the world be addressed effectively, and in a way that is fair to future generations. 

The good news is that there are ways to deal with these problems and make government fi nances more resilient and fairer to future generations. 

The facts, and the solutions, are non-partisan, and so is this book. Responsible leaders of any political persuasion need to understand the issues and the tools that can enable them to deliver policy within these constraints. 

Ian Ball a principal architect of the New Zealand Government’s fi nancial management reforms, initiator of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards and CEO of the International Federation of Accountants. 

Willem Buiter former Chief Economist at Citigroup and EBRD, professor of economics atthe LSE, Cambridge and Yale, and an original member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England. 

John Crompton former investment banker with Morgan Stanley and HSBC in London, New York, and Hong Kong, as well as a Senior Corporate Finance Advisor at the HMT.

Dag Detter Investment advisor to governments led the comprehensive restructuring of Sweden’s national portfolio of commercial assets and author of ‘The Public Wealth of Nations’. 

Jacob Soll Professor of Philosophy, History, and Accounting at the University of Southern California and the author of The Reckoning: Financial Accountability and the Rise and Fall of Nations