Economics 441:
Undergraduate Public Finance

Fall 2007

Meta Brown, Assistant Professor
Department of Economics
University of Wisconsin-Madison
1180 Observatory Drive
Madison, Wisconsin 53706

Phone: (608) 262-8789
Fax: (608) 262-2033
Email:
mbrown@ssc.wisc.edu


Announcements

*Practice Final Exam* See you in class Wednesday 12/12 for the final exam review!

Group handout requirement: All groups are required to email or bring me their class handouts by 8am the day of the presentation. I will make copies for the class. I would prefer for handouts to be <= 4 single-sided pages, and I expect that in many cases 2 to 3 single-sided pages will be perfectly sufficient. One popular option is 3 x 2 printouts of Power Point slides, but whatever you find most effective is great. I look forward to reading your handouts! MB

Notes on taxation and efficiency and on the U.S. personal income tax system have been posted. These were discussed 11/26 in class. Only some of this material was covered, and some was covered quickly. If you missed class, your options are (1) make a friend or (2) study very hard. Hope you all had a great break!

The The Midterm solutions are now available.

The Midterm is now available.

The Presentation Guidelines are now available.

PS 3 was posted November 6th.

The Practice midterm is now available


Syllabus & Schedules

Syllabus in pdf / in html

Student presentation schedules tba


Lectures

Lecture 1 Introduction

Lecture 2 Tools of Positive Analysis

Lecture 2 Tools of Positive Analysis, cont'd

Lecture 3 Welfare Economics (Tools of Normative Analysis)

Lecture 4 Public Goods

Lecture 5 Externalities

Lecture 6 Health Care: Theory and Issues

Lecture 7 Health Care: US Markets & Policies

Lecture 8 Social Security

Supplemental material: CBO

Lecture 9 Deficit Finance

Lecture 10 Income Inequality

Lecture 10 Income Inequality -- Supplement

Lecture 11 Transfer Programs for the Poor

Lecture 12 Cost Benefit Analysis part 1: Present Value

Lecture 12 Cost Benefit Analysis part 2: PRivate & Government Projects

Lecture 13 Taxes: Incidence & Progressivity

Lecture 14 Taxation and Efficiency

Lecture 15 The US Tax System



Problem Sets

Problem Set 1 (pdf) Due in Discussion Thursday-Friday 9/27-28

Problem Set 1 solutions (pdf)

Problem Set 2 (pdf) Due in Discussion Thursday-Friday 10/18-19

Problem Set 2 solutions (pdf)

Problem Set 3 (pdf) Due in Discussion Thursday-Friday 11/15-16

Problem Set 3 solutions (pdf)



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Last Updated: 12 December 2007