With fiscal equalization, debt brakes and special funds set to shape public budgets for decades to come, Thorsten Ingo Schmidt's textbook seeks to make public finance law accessible and explain the complicated regulations in their interaction between European, constitutional and administrative law. Starting from historical and systematic foundations, the author details financial constitutional law within the federal state, placing special emphasis on fiscal equalization. He then moves on to deal with the debt brake for the German government and its federal states, other budgetary principles, budgetary procedure itself, and state property law. These state regulations are then contrasted with the financial law of the municipalities and social security system, while a comparison with the financial law of the European Union serves to sharpen the view for the advantages and disadvantages of Germany's regulations. A presentation of legal protection in public finance law and a look towards the future of public finance law round off this comprehensive volume.