4 min readNov 14, 2026 01:27 PM ISTFiscal Fables by Sarthak Pradhan and Pranay Kotasthane. (Photo: Book cover/image created using AI )AI Narration Listen 00:000.5x0.75x1x1.25x1.5x2xA central assumption why people prefer living in a democracy over a monarchy or a dictatorship is that they would be able to hold their elected government to account. To enforce this accountability, democracies often create detailed constitutional provisions. For instance, the Indian Constitution requires the government to come out each year and give a full financial statement (called the Budget) before the Parliament.But to hold the government to account, first one must understand what the government is doing. The devil, as often is the case, lies in the details. Questions such as how much does the government spend, and on what, become important. Equally important are questions about where and how the government gets the money that it promises to spend.These “fiscal” matters — that is, everything to do with government finances — start to get complicated quite fast once one ponders over these questions.Let’s take taxation for example. There is no one single tax; there are many. So, which ones should the government employ? Should it tax people’s incomes or their consumption? What should be the rate at which it should tax? Who should be exempted and to what limit? Should the tax rate go up as one moves from the poorer to the richer? Should state governments tax separate from the Union? Should each state keep the tax it collects or should it all find its way to a central pool?Those are still only the starting questions. It gets complicated further when you look at news reports that suggest long-standing grievances such as Southern states claiming they have been discriminated against, and that they have lost out to the so-called lagged states in the north. How does one tackle this question? Further, why stop at the state-level. A capital city such as Delhi has its own unique problems; for instance pollution or stress on public transport. Why shouldn’t it be able to tax differently from others?To be sure, the freedom to tax is not without the political implications. In fact, it is political power, and where it resides in a democracy, that decides who gets to tax and how.This is still only on one sub-topic of government finances since taxes is not the only way a government raises money. There’s borrowing as well. The news cycle has been full of reports lately about how government debt is creating a serious problem across the world because governments seem to have overdone borrowing money.Story continues below this adThe other big question is what to spend on. Should there be a sports ministry at all? Spending requirements not only have tax implications but are also closely linked to the role of the government in the economy itself. Should there be a big government (with an outsized role in the economy) or a small government (that is essentially there to help the markets function efficiently)?If such questions interest you but you do not know where to begin, then this book is a good starting point, especially since the next Union Budget is just a couple of months away. The authors, both based out of Bengaluru and both associated with Takshashila Institution (an independent centre for research and education in public policy), have written this book as a citizen’s guide to public finances.As a book, it is a laudable effort at demystifying and explaining more than a few semesters worth of issues in simple language and by using cultural hooks. For instance, they liken the Indian tax system to the functioning of Michael Scott (the character played by Steve Carell in the popular American sitcom The Office). Scott is expected to run a functional branch but instead there is “chaos, distractions and awkward policies”. The book tries to weave many cultural and academic references from Gabbar Singh to Nobel prize winners to answer the million queries one might have.Even so, this is not an easy topic to grasp, and readers may find the use of the word “fables” in the title slightly misleading. Sadly, this is not a collection of short stories in which animals teach you about government finances. Though, that would have been quite a book.© The Indian Express Pvt LtdUdit Misra is Senior Associate Editor at The Indian Express. Misra has reported on the Indian econom... Read More AdvertisementLoading Recommendations...AdvertisementAdvertisement