Helping public sector managers get value for money from their budgets
A blog about public financial management: the fine art of managing public money to deliver vital services to the public. It involves budgeting, accounting, controlling, auditing, reporting, policy-making and decision-taking.
The moral of this story is that sometimes we do not achieve our goals in the way that we imagined them. Yes, I would like to have become a novelist and to earn a living as a full-time writer. Even so, I am a published author and there are people who pay me to put abstract concepts into words. All in all, things have worked out very well in the second half of my career.
Read MoreChoose a public service organisation — it could be where you work or your local government or a major hospital — and I will bet you that the number of human resources professionals is greater than the number of procurement professionals. Not only that, it will be far out of proportion with the split of the budget between employee and non-employee expenses. Why is that?
Read MoreOn the David McWilliams Podcast this week (episode 141) the subject was Bitcoin. More specifically it was about whether Bitcoin is money or not. David McWilliams explained his view that it’s not money because people hoard it rather than spend it. (The premise of the show is that David MacWilliams, a professional economist, explains current economic issues to his childhood friend, and the show’s producer, John. It is like listening in to two friends having a chat about the news in a bar or cafe. Check it out.)
This reminded me of something a tour guide said to my family and me when we were on holiday in India. It is something that has stuck with me for almost 15 years. Whenever we were at a tourist site, or passing by street hawkers, the guide, Ramesh, would say, “Money must flow.”
It’s a simple phrase but it resonated with me. If we spent our rupees on postcards, souvenirs, drinks, or whatever else then the money would flow into the community. In this way our tourism would help local people and the money we brought from England would circulate through the community.
I think this is what David McWilliams was getting at. I have choices about what to do with the money I earn. I could save it for the future and I might do that by converting the cash into bonds or gold or anything else I think will hold or increase its value. To that end I could buy some bitcoins or other digital assets like the non-fungible tokens that have appeared recently for works of art.
Alternatively, I could spend the money. If I am going to spend the money, I can see why I might convert it into rupees, or dollars or euros or some other currency depending on where I plan to do the spending. Would anyone convert their money into bitcoin with the aim of spending the bitcoin? Well, perhaps criminals would, but would regular citizens do that? I think not.
Next time you are in a souk in north Africa, or outside a tourist attraction in India, or in a desert town in the Andes, remember that money must flow: spend your money with local people and local businesses. And give generous tips to your tour guides!
Historically, in Britain taxes were due on the first day of the year, which was 25 March (Lady Day). When Britain (and its empire) moved from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar in 1752 it was necessary to ‘lose’ 11 days so that 2 September 1752 was followed by 14 September 1752. Taxpayers did not want to have to pay their taxes 11 days early…
Read MoreIn South Sudan most girls drop out of school early, before they achieve any formal qualifications. In fact, teenage girls are more likely to die in childbirth than complete their secondary education.
At the beginning of February the government of South Sudan published the results of the nationwide primary school leaving certificate which were taken sat at the end of November 2018.
The top scorer in the 2018 examinations was a girl from a small village in the south west of the country. She was joined in the national top ten by five of her classmates. That’s 6 out of the top ten scorers in the country were girls from the same small school: Ibba Girls Boarding School.
Read MoreOver the years I’ve attended several courses on negotiation skills but none of them have been as helpful as reading Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher and William Ury. Read on to find out why.
© Gary Bandy 2024
