A Personal Take on the World of Budgetary Decision-Making

MEMORANDUM
To: [Recipient's Name], [Recipient's Title]
From: [Your Name], [Your Title]
Date: [Today's Date]
Subject: A Personal Take on the World of Budgetary Decision-Making
Hey [Recipient's Name],
I hope this memo finds you well. I've been thinking a lot about that question from our first class – "How do we decide what's important in budgeting?" It's been rolling around in my mind, and I wanted to share some thoughts, thinking out loud here.
Where We've Come From
I started by looking back at what Key (1940) said about the need for a solid theory in budgeting. It's wild to think how far we've come from those days, but Rubin (1993) showed us that even though we've evolved, we're still tied to those old ways. It's like we're driving looking in the rearview mirror – useful, but not the only way to go.
Politics – The Elephant in the Room
Then there's the whole thing about politics in budgeting. Wildavsky (1992) and Jones & McCaffery (2020) hit the nail on the head. It's not just about the numbers; it's about who's making the decisions and what they stand for. It's tricky, right? Sometimes, these decisions are more about