ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the question of how, and by whom, the interest of an invisible community over a long span of time is represented in the practical work of governing a modern state. A rational man acting in the real world may be defined as one who decides where he will strike a balance between what he desires and what can be done. Within limits, which public men have to bear in mind, the choices as to where to balance the budget are open. In public life, the budget may be balanced by reducing expenditures to the revenue from taxes; by raising taxes to meet the expenditures, or by a combination of the two, by borrowing, or by grants in aid from other governments, or by fiat credit, or by a combination of them. In bankruptcy an involuntary balance is struck for the bankrupt.
