ECO 2009                                                                                          Jim Bryan

Public Finance                                                                                     Fall 2005

           

 

SYLLABUS  & COURSE DESCRIPTION

 

 

Office:  Reid Hall #407:  Take the elevator on the main floor of Reid to the 4th floor.  Turn left as you exit the elevator. Go down the hall and up a few steps until you come to an intersecting hall.  Turn right into this hallway.  My office (#407) will be on the left.

 

                       

Phone:  Office:  Ext. 5276   (914-323-5276 from off-campus) - voice mail

                        Home:         914-245-0895

 

 

E-Mail: bryanj@mville.edu - a very good way to communicate

 

 

Office Hours:    Mondays:          3:30 – 6:30 pm

                        Tuesdays:          12:30 – 1:30 pm & 4:45 - 6:15pm

                        Wed & Thurs:    by appointment only

                        Fridays:             1:00 -- 2:00 p.m.

 

and by appointment for several hours per week outside these hours.  See, call or email me to set a time.  I will do my best to make myself accessible to you.  Let me know if you are having trouble getting in touch with me.

 

 

Texts:               Public Finance (8th edition), by David Hyman, available in the bookstore.

 

                       

 

ABOUT THE COURSE & MY APPROACH TO TEACHING

 

This course has public policy as its focus:  policies surrounding how the government finances what it does and policies surrounding the expenditures which the government is making.  Opinions range widely about what the government should (or should not) be doing, about how we should (or should not) be taxed, and about the use of public debt to finance what government does.  These issues frequently come to the fore in public debate, especially in years of presidential elections.  In the end, the debates are always normative.  They can be resolved only by value judgments.  However, the estimates of the effects of different policies are often the foundations for the normative conclusions; and the economist's contribution is largely in trying to provide these estimates, qualitatively and quantitatively.  The economist is often in the position of mapping out the unintended consequences of policy proposals.  Policies frequently lead to problematic consequences which were completely unanticipated by many well intentioned participants in the deliberations which preceded their enactment.

 

My approach to teaching this course is similar to that I take in other courses.  That is, I emphasize the development of your understanding of pertinent concepts.  I find that economic concepts have many layers.  Our understanding of them comes gradually as we peel these layers, one by one.  It develops best (for most people) when we express the concepts both with graphs and in English, when we go back and forth between the two, and when we apply the concepts to numerous situations.  The best learning occurs neither in dwelling exclusively on the abstract nor in dwelling exclusively on the concrete.  It is in going from one to the other and back that we develop our appreciation for the explanatory and predictive power of economics.  And, it is in doing this frequently that we develop our skills in seeing the world a bit differently, the way economists do. 

 

Given this perspective about learning, my tests and exercises will never reward rote memorization.  They will reward the use of concepts that come from a deep understanding.  In class, on exercises, and on tests I will provide you problems and will ask you to work out reasonable solutions.  If you are having trouble with the material, you should see me as soon as possible so that we can clear up any confusion that exists.

 

Covering the material in this course can be a lot of fun.  We'll be examining some of the same topics that many legislators and members of the executive branch are debating.  We'll be discussing some issues which are receiving very little attention but which should be receiving much more.  Our approach to public policy will be markedly different than that used in other social sciences, such as political science and sociology; yet, it will address some of the same topics that are examined by people within those disciplines. 

 

 

TESTS & EXERCISES:

 

We will have a total of two tests in the course:  a mid-term and a final exam.  In addition, I will assign a few exercises to be done on a take-home basis.  The exact number of these exercises will be determined as we proceed with the course.  Class participation will not be given explicit weighting but will be considered in deciding which way to go with borderline grades.  Unless I tell you otherwise, the allocation of weights, in general, will be:

 

            Mid-Term Exam:           30%

            Final Exam:                   40%

            Exercises combined:      30%

 

 

 

 

 

ATTENDANCE

 

Your presence in class should make a great deal of difference to your understanding of the material.  As a result, I will assign an explicit, negative weight to absences.  For each unexcused absence beyond the third, your semester average will be reduced by two percentage points.  So, for anyone who otherwise is near a borderline between two grades, absences can easily lower the letter grade.

 

 

SYLLABUS

                       

Following is a tentative outline of our course with references to the appropriate portions of our text.  It is probably more ambitious than is realistic.  We will try to proceed slowly enough that the important concepts can be learned thoroughly.  We will try to move quickly enough that the course will not drag.  Consequently, this outline is subject to change by negotiation or fiat.

 

 

REFERENCES (Chapters numbers refer to the text.)

 

 

The Rationale for Government & What the U.S. Government Does

 

 

Chap 1            WHAT THE US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DOES & HOW IT FINANCES WHAT IT DOES

 

 

Chap 2             WHY GOVERNMENT???

                                   

 

Chap 3             EXTERNALITIES & THE ROLE OF PUBLIC REMEDIES

 

 

Chap 4             PUBLIC GOODS & THE ROLE OF PUBLIC REMEDIES

 

 

Chap 6             COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS

 

 

 

 

 

 

Financing Government – a look at US Government Revenues and their Sources

 

 

Chap 10            GENERAL PRINCIPLES

 

 

Chap 11            TAXATION – Some General Concepts

 

 

Chap 13-15       TAXATION OF INCOME

 

 

Chap 16            TAXATION OF CONSUMPTION

 

 

Chap 17            TAXATION OF WEALTH, PROPERTY, & ESTATES   

 

 

Chap 12            PUBLIC DEBT

 

 

 

 

An Analysis of two Income Transfer Issues

 

 

Chap 9             SOCIAL SECURITY

 

 

Chap 8             INCOME SUPPORT FOR THE POOR