Course Description:

This course focuses on the role of the government in the economy and covers four general areas: government revenue, government expenditure, regulation, and public choice. Applying a variety of methodologies, students will learn to creatively and critically analyze public policy. We will frame policy and its implications in terms of social relations and seek to explain how these policies impact the processes which provide the flow of goods and services enabling society to meet the needs of its members. Topics will include many current policy issues including, but not limited to market and government failures, budget deficits, tax reform, schooling and environmental protection. In covering these topics we will consider reasons for intervention, explore costs and benefits of policies, as well as the response of society’s members to these policies.