The Role of Historical and Philosophical Foundations in Shaping Modern Public Finance Policies

The history of public finance shows how states gradually transitioned from in-kind taxes and feudal levies to modern tax systems, budgets, and debt markets. Centralization of power, the development of fiscal administration, the rising costs of war, and the emergence of institutions such as the Bank of England played a key role in this process. The philosophical foundations of public finance – especially Rawls’s theory of justice, Nozickian libertarianism, and the concept of the common good – provide moral justifications for tax progression, redistribution, or limiting the role of the state. Conflicts between these approaches shape contemporary tax systems and fiscal rules. Contemporary fiscal policy combines the goals of social justice, macroeconomic stability, and efficiency. It includes, among others, progressive taxes, a global minimum corporate income tax (CIT), green levies, social investment, and the digitalization of tax administration. Given challenges such as aging societies, climate change, and globalization, stable institutions, transparency, and the state’s ability to respond to crises become crucial. In each of the areas studied, recurring relationships were found, indicating that contemporary public finances are directly shaped by historical institutions and philosophical debates regarding justice, the role of the state, and the distribution of wealth. Therefore, the hypothesis was confirmed.