The complex and important relationship between public expenditure and economic performance has been the subject of numerous econometric studies. But the studies remain inconclusive�some results have shown positive relationships, while others are negative. Thus there is no conventional wisdom backed by statistical evidence on this relationship, nor is there any sort of clear theoretical underpinning that explains how the aggregate of government spending acts on the growth of total output. This book studies the role of public expenditures in a noneconometric way by examining a number of specific instances of these expenditures and their direct effect on economic performance. Specifically, the authors presents scenarios from Botswana, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, and Zambia and ask a series of questions to identify and illuminate the impact of these instances of public expenditure on a number of variables that help measure economic performance. These examples are then used to make generalizations about the relationship between public spending and economic performance.