ECON 369 Handouts and Assignments

Handouts and Assignments

ECON 369 - Public Sector Economics

Homework Assignments

Homework Assignment One - Due Friday, January 22

Homework Assignment Two - Due Monday, February 8

Homework Assignment Three - Due Wednesday, February 24

Out of Class Exercise to do on Monday, Feb. 29th

Homework Assignment Four - Due Friday, March 18

Homework Assignment Five - Due Monday, April 4

No more homework assignments -- work on your projects!! Due Date for the Super Committee Paper Assignment is Wednesday, April 20. Presentations will be held on Wednesday, April 20 and Friday, April 22. So a short PowerPoint would probably be a good idea. We will decide order of presentations soon.

OPTIONAL EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENT - DUE MONDAY, APRIL 18 BY 4:30 PM. I WILL NOT ACCEPT THIS LATE.

Topic Outlines and Reading Assignments (I will bring copies of these unless otherwise noted)

Outline One - Public Finance and Public Choice: Introduction

Reading Assignment: "What Every Voter Should Know About Public Choice Theory" by Steve Mariotti

Outline Two - Arguments for Government Provisions of Goods

Reading Assignment: "Market Failure and Government Intervention: The View from Welfare Economics" in Beyond Politics by William C. Mitchell and Randy T. Simmons

Reading Quiz over "What Every Voter Should Know About Public Choice Theory" AND "Market Failure and Government Intervention: The View from Welfare Economics" on Monday, January 18.

Outline Three: Public Choice Part One - The Public Choice Revolution

Reading Assignment: "The Public Choice Revolution" by Gwartney and Wagner from Public Choice Economics - Reading Quiz over this reading on Monday, January 25

Outline Four: Public Choice Continued - Rent Seeking

Reading Assignment: "The Cost of Rent Seeking" by Gordon Tullock and Crony Capitalism in America, selected chapters, by Hunter Lewis (Quiz over these readings on Friday, February 5)

Outline Five: Public Choice Continued - Voting

Reading Assignment: Chapter from "The Myth of the Rational Voter" by Bryan Caplan - Reading Quiz over this reading on Wednesday, February 17

Outline Six: Voting Rules and Outcomes of Direct Majority Voting

Reading Assignment: None

Outline Seven: Public Choice cont. - Some More Insights: Logrolling, Special Interest Groups, and Government Bureaus

Reading Assignment: A Tale of Two Parks, a case study by Warren Meyer - Reading Quiz over this reading on Wednesday, March 16

Outline Eight: The Size and Growth of Government - Evidence and Theory

Reading Assignment: Project Packet (no quiz)

Outline Nine: Tax Analysis (general) - Classifications and Incidence

Reading Assignment: "The Basic Thing To Know About The Corporate Income Tax: Companies Don't Pay It" by Tim Worstall (from Forbes, 5/23/13) Quiz over this reading on Monday, March 28.

Outline Ten: Tax Analysis - Some Applications

Reading Assignment: "The Perfect Tax" from Fair Play by Steven E. Landsburg AND "Flat Tax Vs. National Sales Tax" by Colette L. Meehan Quiz over these readings on Friday, April 1

Outline Eleven - Other Taxes and Tax Ideas

Reading Assignment: None

Outline Twelve - Alternative Means of Financing Government Expenditures

Reading Assignment: "Concerning Future Generations" from Public Principles of Public Debt: A Defense and Restatement by James M. Buchanan and "The Cozy Relationship between the Treasury and the Fed" by David Howden - Quiz over these readings on Friday, April 15

In Class Exercises (I will bring copies to class)

In Class Exercise One - Introduction

In Class Exercise Two - Government Provisions of Goods

In Class Exercise Three - The Public Choice Revolution

In Class Exercise Four - Rent Seeking

In Class Exercise Five - Voting

In Class Exercise Six - Voting Rules, Etc.

In Class Exercise Seven - Logrolling, Special Interest Groups, and Government Bureaus

In Class Exercise Eight - The Size and Growth of Government

In Class Exercise Nine - Tax Analysis (general)

In Class Exercise Ten - Tax Analysis (incidence)

In Class Exercise Eleven - Tax Applications