In this paper I give a critical commentary on the paper by Wiseman, “The political economy of federalism: a critical appraisal”. Wiseman's paper has originality which has stood it well over time. I comment briefly on the equity-efficiency debate but concentrate on the aspects of political economy introduced by Wiseman. The opportunity is also used to give a brief view of subsequent developments in the literature, which have shown how far, in so many respects, Wiseman's emphasis on the “politics” of federalism has turned out to be correct.
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