Public Finance examines government intervention in the economy, and it is difficult to find economic activity without some form of government intervention. Firstly, there is no market without the state. The market is an institution that requires rules to function, thus needing someone to enforce them. Additionally, the size of the government is such that it makes it the largest economic entity in every national economy.

Furthermore, the government has the exclusive privilege to conduct unilateral and mandatory transactions. The government plays a pivotal role in the economy, and any understanding of the economic world would certainly be incomplete without taking it into account.

This book provides the essential technical tools for students of Economics to understand the multifaceted role of the state at both microeconomic and macroeconomic levels. These include topics found in most related texts such as the functioning and failures of competitive markets, taxation, and social security, as well as topics that are often missing such as tax evasion, public debt, economic inequality, democracy, and more.