The Socio-Philosophical Dimension of Fiscal Space

The article examines the category of space from a philosophical perspective, thereby clarifying the grounds for applying spatial concepts to socioeconomic phenomena. The case for rethinking fiscal space draws on studies demonstrating that economic categories cannot be reduced to quantitative parameters. The article considers approaches that examine how economic ideas and models participate in shaping practices and expectations, including Michel Callon’s concept of the performativity of economics, Jens Beckert’s theory of fictional expectations, and Robert Shiller’s narrative economics. An analysis of the history of philosophical conceptions of space – from ancient ideas of place and the void to contemporary theories of social space – provides grounds for broadening the understanding of fiscal space. Its conventional interpretation as a set of available financing sources, including tax revenues, borrowing, reserves, and external assistance, is shown to capture primarily its quantitative dimension while overlooking the institutional and social conditions under which public policy is implemented. Drawing on Henri Lefebvre’s triad, the article identifies three dimensions of fiscal space: fiscal practices, administrative representations, and the lived space of legitimacy, trust, and national identity, within which societal expectations and the acceptable limits of redistribution become established. The cases of Greece, Russia, and China demonstrate that misalignment among these dimensions can result in analytical and governance failures and narrow the scope for fiscal maneuver even when quantitative indicators appear formally favorable. The article concludes that fiscal space, shaped by the interplay of available resources, institutions, fiscal practices, and public perceptions of government policy, constitutes a socially produced order of relations in which economic possibilities take the form of socially recognized limits on state action.

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