Graduate Public Sector Economics

This is one of four units in the Berkeley PhD sequence in public sector economics (Economics 230A and 230B). My unit covers capital taxation, optimal labor income taxation, social insurance, and public economics across space.

This course covers seven sections: [slides here, large download]

  1. Optimal Capital Taxation
  2. Actual Capital Taxation: Investment
  3. Actual Capital Taxation: Savings
  4. Optimal Labor Income Taxation
  5. Social Insurance
  6. Local Public Finance
  7. Place-Based Policies

Undergraduate Public Sector Economics

This course (Berkeley Economics 131) analyzes the role of the government in the economy. The aim is to provide an understanding of the reasons for government intervention in the economy, the benefits and costs of possible government policies, and the responses of economic agents to the government’s actions. The course covers tax policy and inequality, social insurance programs, public goods, environmental protection, and the interaction between different levels of government. Special emphasis is on current policy issues such as tax reform, budget deficits, and health care reform.

This course covers nineteen sections:

  1. Introduction
  2. Theoretical Tools of Public Finance
  3. Empirical Tools of Public Finance
  4. Tools of Budget Analysis
  5. Income Distribution, Poverty, Taxes, and Transfers
  6. Tax Incidence and Efficiency Costs of Taxation
  7. Labor Income Taxes and Transfers: Optimal Policy Theory
  8. Labor Income Taxes and Transfers: Evidence
  9. Taxes on Capital and Savings
  10. Business Taxation
  11. Externalities
  12. Public Goods
  13. Political Economy
  14. State and Local Government Expenditures
  15. Education
  16. Social Insurance
  17. Social Security
  18. Unemployment Insurance, Disability Insurance, and Workers’ Compensation
  19. Health Insurance