The subject of Public Economics is the study of the economic purposes and goals of the state, as well as the means it has at its disposal and uses to achieve them.

Empirical observation shows that in modern social formations characterized by individual ownership of the means of production, free entrepreneurial activity, and competition in the market, the economic activity of the state has developed extensively. In most of these social formations (Europe, North America, Japan), the expenditures made by the state and the agencies it controls represent 30-45% of the national product, the taxes it collects 25-30%, and the loans it incurs 20-25% of the national savings.

Furthermore, the state has developed business activities in many sectors such as electricity production, transportation, telecommunications, hospital care, etc., and also in sectors of heavy industry, such as oil refining, steel production, armament production, and other industries that until recently were considered to traditionally belong to private enterprise initiative.

The chapters included are:

Foreword
Contents
Part One: The Economic Functions of the State

Section 1: Neoclassical Theories

Chapter 1: The Sociological Background of Neoclassical Public Economics
Chapter 2: Perfect Competition and the Concept of the Economically Neutral State
Chapter 3: Market Imperfections and the Functions of the Interventionist State
Chapter 4: Public Goods
Chapter 5: External Economies and Burdens
Chapter 6: Monopolistic Deviations
Chapter 7: State Interventions in the Distribution of Income
Chapter 8: State Policy for the Stabilization and Development of the Economy
Chapter 9: The Political Mechanism of Choice

Section 2: Marxist Perspective

Chapter 10: The State in Exploitative Modes of Production
Chapter 11: Form and Functions of the Capitalist State
Chapter 12: The Economic Functions of the Capitalist State