Public Net Worth

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 finances sustainably, is difficult – and getting more so.

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

Governments need to create balance sheets that properly reflect 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 financial strength and success.

Only if this information is put at the centre of government financial decision-making can the present challenges to public finances 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 finances 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. 

“This book is a call for sensible change. It should be answered.” (Martin Wolf, Chief Economic Commentator, Financial Times)

“Public Net Worth is a book with a mission: to get governments to overhaul their approach to public finance and accounting…focusing on net worth would at least force the government to ask the right questions about how best to improve the wealth of the nation – and not further immiserate the next generation”. (Simon Nixon, former Times Economic Commentator, on his new blog ‘The Wealth of Nations’)

“Public Net Worth is long overdue. It offers a vision for more sustainable public finances, through the implementation of accrual accounting and a focus on public sector balance sheets. This book presents a roadmap to more resilient governments, armed with the finance and accounting information needed to deliver more efficient and effective public services. It is a must-read for any PFM professional.” (Alex Metcalf, Head of Public Sector at ACCA)

“By using corporate accounting methods, the yardstick forces politicians to take a more holistic view of what they own and owe.” (Francesco Guerrera, Reuters Breakingviews)

“Never has the quest for restoring fiscal responsibility been more urgent in the wake of pandemic panic throwing fiscal caution to the winds. As the pioneer of New Zealand’s fiscal rules that have induced a culture of fiscal responsibility over the last 30 years, tribute needs to be paid to the real hero – accounting and budget reform with accrual rules at the heart and measures of net worth instituted and tracked. This book is a compelling practitioners guide for current and aspiring policymakers who take seriously their responsibilities to promote economic and social welfare, not just now but for future generations.” (Ruth Richardson, New Zealand Minister of Finance 1990-93 and responsible for the Fiscal Responsibility Act)

“Public Net Worth – Accounting, Government and Democracy, suggests a holistic approach to PFM and explains how governments can improve their fiscal position from a declining net worth to a positive one that is able to withstand fiscal shocks and enhance the financial performance of the public sector.” (Arman Vatyan, Public Financial Management Leader at the World Bank)

“Public Net Worth book comes at the right time to accelerate actions toward governments preparing more credible balance sheets.” (Srinivas Gurazada, Global Lead, Public Financial Management at the World Bank)

“The Public Net Worth is an essential reading by all those who are concerned about the fairness of the government finance.” (W.A. Wijewardena, former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka)

“The book makes a significant contribution by shining the spotlight on an important but often overlooked area of public finance: the government balance sheet.” (Terence Ho, associate professor in practice at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore)

Ian Ball

Ian is an Adjunct Professor at the Wellington School of Business and Government at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. He served as the Director of Financial Management Policy and Central Financial Controller at the New Zealand Treasury. He is credited with being the principal architect of the New Zealand Government’s financial management reform process, leading to the passage of the Public Finance Act 1989. This made New Zealand the first government to introduce modern accrual accounting and integrate that with the budget and appropriation processes. He also initiated and lead the development of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) while Chair of the International Federation of Accountant’s Public Sector Committee.

Willem Buiter

Currently an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. He was the Global Chief Economist at Citigroup, Chief Economist at the EBRD and an original member ofthe Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England. He was the Juan T. Trippe Professor of International Economics at Yale University. He held academic appointments at the London School of Economics, Cambridge University, the University of Bristol, and Princeton University. He is the author of 78 refereed articles in professional journals and seven books.

John Crompton

John began his career as a civil servant in HM Treasury in the mid-1980s before joining Morgan Stanley, where he worked as an investment banker in London, New York, and Hong Kong. In 2005 - 07 he was seconded back to HMT as its Senior Corporate Finance Advisor, and from 2008 - 2010 was Head of Market Investments at UKFI, responsible for the government's investments in Lloyds Banking Group and RBS (now NatWest). More recently, he worked for HSBC for several years and is now a non-executive director, adviser and fintech investor.

Dag Detter

Dag advises private and public sector clients across the world on the unlocking of value from public assets. He led the comprehensive restructuring of Sweden’s USD70bn national portfolio of commercial assets, the first attempt by a European government to systematically address the ownership and management of government enterprises and real estate. This led to a value increase of the portfolio twice that of the local stock market and helped boost economic growth and fiscal space. He is the author of ‘The Public Wealth of Nations’ – The Economist and Financial Times’ best book of the year and ‘The Public Wealth of Cities’.

Jacob Soll

Jacob Soll is a University Professor and Professor of Philosophy, History, and Accounting at the University of Southern California and has taught at Princeton, Rutgers, and Cambridge Universities. The winner of many prestigious prizes, including a MacArthur “Genius” Grant, Soll's work examines the mechanics of politics, statecraft, and economics by dissecting how modern states and political systems succeed and fail. He is the author of several books, including his best-selling The Reckoning: Financial Accountability and the Rise and Fall of Nations (2014), which presents a sweeping history of accounting and politics, drawing on a wealth of examples from over a millennium of human history to reveal how accounting can used to both build kingdoms, empires and entire civilisations, but also to undermine them.  It explains the origins of our financial crisis as deeply rooted in a long disconnect between human beings and their attempts to manage financial numbers.