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MSFS-574 Governments Role in the Economy
Klumpner, Jim
This course will equip students with basic tools for evaluating economic arguments in public debates. Students who go on to government, business, non-profits, or international institutions need an analytical basis for evaluating debates about economic policy, even if they are not themselves economists. This course will help students understand (1) how government policy can affect the economy, (2) what situations economists believe merit government intervention in the economy, and (3) how economic policy actually gets made. Because conservatives and liberals often differ about government economic policy, this course will highlight the ways in which they see things differently. The class will use current policy disputes to motivate discussions of basic issues.
The course will consist of three parts. Part I will look at economic policy as it relates to individual markets, what economists call “microeconomics”. This section will examine issues such as pollution, risk sharing, public investment, and the principles of efficient taxation. Part II will focus on the issues of long-run economic growth and business fluctuations, i.e. “macroeconomics”. This section will examine the extent to which governments can or should try to affect the pace of overall activity and its future path. Part III will deal with budgeting, which is the vehicle for most economic policy. This section will focus on how the reality of the policy-making is affected by the academic arguments featured in Parts I and II.
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: None
Course syllabi
The following syllabi may help you learn more about this course (login required):
Spring '10:
Klumpner J
(file download)
Additional syllabi may be available in prior academic years.
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More information
Look for this course in the schedule of classes.
The academic department web site for this program may provide other details about this course.
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