"It is about reaching into corners where there is no statutory money or causes that are underfunded.
Yet these are not necessarily good for city dwellers, especially rental tenants and people who depend on public services that may be underfunded while municipal budgets are diverted to creating and maintaining tourist attractions.
Theatre lovers say that the end of state subsidies after the fall of the Soviet Union left drama troupes and art schools underfunded.
Childcare campaigners say the existing offer is already underfunded by the government, with parents and providers making up the shortfall; doubling it to 30, they warn, risks undermining the sustainability of the sector.
Yet, for the sake of a couple of dispatch-box flourishes, Brown reduced it to 20p, leaving revenue spending underfunded and capital spending dependent on expensive PFI schemes which will contribute to the budget deficit for years to come.
Anthony Coscia, Amtrak's chairman, remarked recently that the passenger network is "still entirely underfunded for what we accomplish .Yet never has rail travel, particularly in the north-east, been more important.
The costs have been gargantuan, though, according to its outgoing chief foreign prosecutor this week, it is still "underfunded and under-resourced".
Many are grossly underfunded as it is.Such statistics are enough to send a pension trustee to an early grave.
These crises nonetheless amount to an important test of Britain's ambition to be an active, collaborative, medium-sized Western power, which its leaders are flunking.The Foreign Office is underfunded and demoralised.
Enough to retain veto power, but only just.The problem is that, although they have memorable popular battle cries, the pro-democratic parties are underfunded and badly organised.
