Book Reviews : Setting National Priorities: The 1972 Budget. By CHARLES L. SCHULTZE, EDWARD R. FRIED, ALICE M. RIVLIN, and NANCY H. TEETERS. (Washington, D. C.: The Brookings Institution, 1971, Pp. 336. $2.95.) Counterbudget: A Blueprint for Changing National Priorities 1971-1976. Pre pared by The National Urban Coalition. Edited by ROBERT S. BENSON and HAROLD WOLMAN. (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1971. Pp. 348. $2.95 paper, $8.95 cloth.) The Perverted Priorities of American Politics. By DUANE LOCKHARD. (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1971. Pp. 337. $6.95.)

• DOI: 10.1177/106591297102400415
• Published date: 01 December 1971
• Date: 01 December 1971
• Subject Matter: Articles

810

Setting

National

Priorities:

The

1972

Budget.

By

CHARLES

L.

SCHULTZE,

EDWARD

R.

FRIED,

ALICE

M.

RIVLIN,

and

NANCY

H.

TEETERS.

(Washington,

D.

C.:

The

Brookings

Institution,

1971,

Pp.

336.

$2.95.)

Counterbudget:

A

Blueprint

for

Changing

National

Priorities

1971-1976.

Pre-

pared

by

The

National

Urban

Coalition.

Edited

by

ROBERT

S.

BENSON

and

HAROLD

WOLMAN.

(New

York:

Praeger

Publishers,

1971.

Pp.

348.

$2.95

paper,

$8.95

cloth.)

The

Perverted

Priorities

of

American

Politics.

By

DUANE

LOCKHARD.

(New

York:

The

Macmillan

Company,

1971.

Pp.

337.

$6.95.)

The

authors

of

these

three

books

are

interested

in

national

priorities,

but

their

foci

differ.

Schultze,

Fried,

Rivlin

and

Teeters

stress

choices

made

in

formulating

the

1972

budget;

The

National

Urban

Coalition

presents

a

five-year

counterbudget;

while

Lockhard

examines

political

institutions,

processes

and

resultant

&dquo;perverted&dquo;

policies.

Realizing

that

the

national

budget

is

an

important

indicator

of

national

priorities,

Schultze, et

al.,

examine

presidential

policy

choices

related

to

the

1972

budget

in

the

context

of

alternatives

available.

The

authors

admirably

succeed

in

presenting

material

on

a

host

of

subjects

in

this

concise

and

readable

book.

They

indicate

that

given

built-in

budgetary

changes

and

prior

commitments,

the

Administration

has

only

$14

billion

discretionary

increases

in

a

budget

of

$229

billion.

The

major

areas

of

increase,

and

therefore

choice,

were

in

defense,

social

security,

revenue

sharing,

welfare

reform,

and

education

and

manpower.

The

authors

also

examine

the

medical

care,

environmental

quality,

transportation,

housing,

and

agriculture

policy

choices

in

detail.

The

authors

describe

the

Administration’s

foreign

policy

assumptions

and

decisions

related

to

strategic

and

general

purpose

forces.

Alternatives

to

these

are

also

presented.

In

addition,

special

defense

issues,

including

the

role

of

the

air-

craft

carrier,

tactical

aircraft,

tactical

nuclear

weapons

in

Europe,

and

the

Viet-

nam

peace

dividend

(or

lack

of

it),

are

critically

examined.

Included

in

the

domestic

policy

sections

are

critiques

of

trust

funds

used

for

social

security

and

highways

as

well

as

transportation

subsidies.

The

book

concludes

with

a

presenta-

tion

of

budgetary

trends

and

other

types

of

federal

spending

outside

the

budget.

The

authors

could

have

included

additional

bibliographic

references

for

readers

interested

in

pursuing

some

of

the

topics

in

greater

depth.

The

national

debt

and

the

interest

on

it

could

also

have

been

examined.

The

interest

on

the

debt

for

1972

exceeds

the

amount

of

the

discretionary

increases.

This

is

nevertheless

an

excellent

book

and

mandatory

reading

for

those

interested

in

public

policies

affect-

ed

by

national

budgetary

choices

and

the

setting

of

national

priorities.

The

National

Urban

Coalition,

realizing

that

national

priorities

cannot

be

abruptly

altered,

has

written

a

detailed

counterbudget

to

cover

five

fiscal

years.

The

book

includes

a

Statement

on

National

Priorities

setting

forth

goals

and

sample

budgets

for

goal

implementation,

the

latter

comprising

the

major

part

of

the

book.

The

Coalition

staff’s

budget

for

fiscal

years

1972-76

stresses

human

develop-

ment,

including

programs

for

health

care,

social

insurance,

income

support,

and