World Leaders Sharpen Fiscal Skills
Every summer since 2001, government officials from across the globe have gathered in Atlanta for the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies' public policy summer training courses. Presented by the International Studies Program, the courses are designed to help developing and transitional countries improve their economies.
Through their experiences at Georgia State, many world leaders have learned strategies to help reduce poverty in their home countries by creating a stable economic environment that offers improved educational and health care services for the poor, says Jamie Boex, assistant research professor of economics and senior associate for the International Studies Program. This year's courses were held June 26 through August 25.
"When developing countries embark on such pro-poor policies, they often discover they don't have the required know-how in the areas of tax policy, public expenditure management and fiscal decentralization," Boex explains. "Since all these areas of public finance are critical for assuring a fair and efficient allocation of government resources, many countries, especially in Africa and Asia, turn to the summer training courses for help in tackling these major challenges."
One of the program's most popular courses focuses on fiscal decentralization and local governance, teaching officials how to shift the power to tax and spend from central governments to local ones. The process helps local authorities provide better public services for their communities, including adequate education and health care, and allows for their communities to hold them accountable. Other courses run the gamut from tax policy, fiscal analysis and revenue forecasting to public budgeting and fiscal management.
Summer training courses on Georgia State's campus have attracted officials from a variety of diverse nations, including Vietnam, Thailand and India. As part of the instruction, trainees also get to tour places like the Georgia Department of Revenue and the DeKalb County Tax Assessor's Office to observe how U.S. government works at the local level.
"These officials have gone back to their jobs better equipped to reform their countries' fiscal systems," says Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, director of the International Studies Program. "The Andrew Young School has participated and continues to participate as a partner in many of these reform processes."