international

I am currently using this book for a graduate-level public budgeting course for a ranked MPA program. Mikesell's textbook is a poorly written, discursive and convoluted in scope. There are several basic grammatical errors in this textbook, and this is coming from someone whose first language is not English. The end-of-chapter computational problems are difficult to complete because nowhere in the chapters does the author explain how to do the problems.

There is also too much information crammed into each paragraph; I'm lucky if I can read three pages in a row in one sitting. The author does not write well; he uses too many block quotes and lists (e.g, (1), (2), (3)...). Therefore, this book does not read well, and the information he tries to provide does not register in the mind.

Most of my classmates have the same complaints as the ones I listed above. This book agitating for many to read, even for someone with a fairly solid economic background. Therefore, I'd strongly recommend not to use this book if at all possible.

But to balance out this criticism with some good points, the first chapter is relatively easy to read and useful.

A previous reviewer incorrectly identified my father's (J. Mikesell) undergrad alma mater as Illinois. In fact John Mikesell earned his BA from Wabash College.

Just setting the facts straight.

I use this book in a public budgeting graduate class. For people with limited knowledge of public budgeting or fiscal administration in general, this book leaves much to be desired. A certain base knowledge is required and one must be able to decode the private language of budget scholars to understand the writings. Examples are frequently presented with no clear connection to the text. This book is regarded as one of the best, but I would not recommend it for anyone without prior knowledge of the subject or to someone looking for a quick and easy explanation of budgeting.