L'Etat et ses problèmes d'organisation: la taille ou la ceinture?

. The state has become an economic agency of considerable importance. The reason given for the increasing size of the state is the feeling that the working of free markets leads to disappointing results. However, this view itself is often an illusion, since it is impossible to achieve the operational goals by which private action is judged. At that point the state takes over the allocation of resources, but its intervention also implies an unattainable goal. The state acts without specific rules of behaviour linking the goals of its intervention with the action itself. This often creates a gap between the benefits of the state action and the resources which the so‐called beneficiaries are called upon to contribute. This occurs because, without any control or assessment, the actions depart from their initial goals, either because the would‐be beneficiaries are no longer the ones who in fact benefit, or else because the promises made at the time of the intervention cannot be kept. This problem is illustrated by three examples. The theme of this paper is that the absence of rules of behaviour incites those who subsidize the state to withdraw their participation. The administrative attempts of the ppbs type did not produce good results. In conclusion, the article suggests that legislation which generates a program of activities should include both the evaluation process and a time limit for a legislative review.