Who Will Pay

Aging populations. Weather shocks. Scarce water. Globalization. Security threats. Policymakers today confront a number of developments that threaten to burden public budgets for decades to come, or bankrupt some entirely. The book argues that governments need to make policy changes now to take account of the potential fiscal consequences of these developments. After describing how analysts, national governments, and international organizations presently address, if at all, these long-term issues, the book stresses the vital need of a multipronged approach, involving strengthened analyses, greater attention to long-term issues and risk factors in the budgeting, and institutional reforms that address the myopic biases of politicians and the public.