Economics of the Public Sector

Relationship between assessments and learning goals

Description of assignment	Which learning goals does this assess?
Midterm exam End term exam Assignments	1, 2 1,2 1,2,3,4

 

This course is a redeveloped version of the previous level 3 course UCSSCECO31 Public Economics You cannot take both.

Individuals and firms are repeatedly confronted with government, e.g. when paying taxes or receiving subsidies, study grants or social security benefits, when making use of roads or public transport, health care, and education facilities, or casting a vote during elections, et cetera. Indeed, in capitalist democracies the government is a key-player in crafting the economy, and in most developed countries the public sector has become an enormous economic force, with a size that amounts to 40-60 percent of GDP. Also, in the more macro-economic perspective of fostering long-run economic growth and development the government is a (the?) key-player. A highly debatable topic though is the optimal division between private and public sector. Underlying this debate is the question what the norms should be that guide the provisioning of goods and services and how? Which tasks should be carried out by the public sector (notably  the government) and which tasks are left to the private sector? What are the welfare consequences of some particular division between public and private? What does this entail for the size of the public sector and the size of the public debt, and (ultimately) long-run economic growth? 


Format
In principle, the class meets twice a week for 1h 45m during the semester. Active participation is required. The set-up of each class will differ depending on the topic and day. When working on the group paper, class contact time might be replaced with group consults.