Fiscal illusion occurs when citizens fail to understand the financial predicament of their governments and also misperceive the true cost of government goods and services consumed. It is an important problem because it can - if left unchecked -result in financial sustainability problems. Moreover, fiscal illusion can also generate sub-optimal demand, elicit tax revolts and entrench intergenerational inequity. In this paper, the scholarly literature surrounding fiscal illusion is reviewed with a particular emphasis on addressing the gap in the literature that exists with respect to local government. Reference is then made to standard economic theory to suggest a number of practical measures that might be taken to mitigate the problem. The paper concludes with a consideration of the important lessons that can be learned by other tiers of government that might also be faced with the problem of fiscal illusion.

Across the developed world food insecurity has become a growing problem, including in contemporary Japan. A common response to food insecurity has been the development of food banks typically run by voluntary associations often in partnership with public agencies and private firms. Considerable ingenuity exists in the Japanese food bank sector that can inform public policymaking in addressing the problem of food insecurity. Adopting the conceptual prism offered by the co-production literature, we study three food banks: Second Harvest Nagoya, Food Bank Iwate and Food Bank Kanagawa. While the modus operandi employed by the three food banks differs considerably, a common thread underpinning their success resides in the fact that they all combine the comparative institutional advantages of their collaborating partner organisations in the local public and the private sector.