C. Northcote Parkinson C. Northcote Parkinson Cyril Northcote Parkinson (30 July 1909 – 9 March 1993) was a British naval historian and author of some 60 books, the most famous of which was his best-seller "Parkinson's Law" (1957), in which Parkinson advanced Parkinson's law, stating that "work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion", an insight which led him to be regarded as an important scholar in public administration and management. The youngest son of William Edward Parkinson (1871–1927), an art master at North East County School and from 1913 principal of York School of Arts and Crafts, and
Wagner's law Wagner's law Wagner's law, known as the law of increasing state spending, is a principle named after the German economist Adolph Wagner (1835–1917). He first observed it for his own country and then for other countries. The theory holds that for any country, that public expenditure rises constantly as income growth expands. The law predicts that the development of an industrial economy will be accompanied by an increased share of public expenditure in gross national product: Wagner's law suggests that a welfare state evolves from free market capitalism due to the population voting for ever-increasing social services as general income