PUAD 5004: Economics and Public Finance

PUAD 5004: Economics and Public Finance

School of Public Affairs

University of Colorado Denver

COURSE SYLLABUS

Instructor Name: KyuDong (KD) Park, PhD candidate

Instructor Phone: 720-355-7684

Instructor Email:

Office and Hours: 440P; by appointmentonly

Term: Summer 2018

Method of Delivery: Online

***Please note that I cannot respond to emails sent from non-UCD accounts***

COURSE OVERVIEW

I.University Course Catalog Description

Evaluates the role of government with respect to provision and financing of public goods. Explores 5 broad topics: 1) welfare & microeconomics 2) expenditure theory 3) resource mobilization (emphasis on taxation) 4) fiscal federalism 5) basic budgeting & analytical tools.

II.Course Overview

PUAD 5004 is a core course in the MPA curriculum at the School of Public Affairs. This course provides an introduction to economic approaches to decisions in public affairs. We focus on important topics in public affairs. The topics include (1) environment, (2) government expenditure, (3) education, (4) social insurance, (5) welfare, and (6) taxation issues.

We will use tools of economics to analyze these public affairs. Broadly, there are two big sub-fields economics: macroeconomics (aggregate income, consumption, and investment across national economy) and microeconomics (economics within particular commodities or individuals). Most analysts of public affairs at the local-and-state level are inclined to deal more with microeconomics issues.Consequently, we will concentratemore on microeconomics issues and analysis.

Microeconomics provides a helpful set of tools for capturingessentials of complexity of public choices.These tools are based upon the concept of individual choice in communities, where all economic players, including consumers,firms, and agencies affiliated with a government, are assumed to make every effort to optimize given opportunities. The opportunities (at a minimum) include budgets, time, and energy. Aggregated individual choices are simplified and analyzedin market settings, where transactions occur. Using the tools of microeconomics, we will analyze transactions in public affairs.

Although the basic tools used in this course come from that of microeconomics, the focus of this courseis slightly different from those of microeconomics. It is inaccurate to simply put a single economic playerperspective on a government decision because a government operates amid webs of interests among citizens. This leads us to in-depth analyses of governmental processes, outputs, and decisions. Hence, we will focus on following areas:

When should the governmentintervenein the economy?
What is the impact of government intervention on the economy?
How can policy alternatives be evaluated?

III. Course Goals and Learning Objectives and Corresponding MPA Competencies

Learning Objectives / Course Activities
To develop a foundation for understanding governmental activities with an emphasis on public finance. / All readings,discussions, final, and written assignments
To be informed consumers of public finance data, and thus equip us to engage constructively in the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of public policies / All readings, discussions, final, and written assignments
To communicate productively with a diverse workforce and citizenry / All discussions, and written assignments
To analyze, synthesize, think critically, solve problems and make recommendations for decision-making / All Final and written assignments

IV. Course Prerequisites

There are no economics or statistics course prerequisites.Only the mathematics you covered in high school algebra classes are required to understand graphs and equations in this course.

V.Course Credits: 3

VI. Required Texts and Materials

Gruber, Jonathan. (2015). Public Finance and Public Policy (5th Ed.), NY: Worth Publishers, ISBN-13:9781464143335. (4thedition is acceptable, but has less updated examples and figures)

VII.Supplementary Texts and Materials

Additional readings, such as journal readings, will be assigned, and I will post them on Canvas

VIII.Course Schedule

Introduction to Public Finance

Class1 (6/4—6/10)

Warming Up for the Course and Obtain Textbooks

Review of the Basic Mathematics for Public Finance

Overview of the Public Finance

Harshbarger, R., & Reynolds, J. J. (2012).Chapters 1, 2, and 6 Mathematical applications for the management, life, and social sciences. Nelson Education.

Chapters will be posted on Canvas.

Discussion: Getting to Know Each Other discussion

Public Finance: Theory and Applications

Class 2 (6/11—6/17)

Theoretical Tools for Public Finance

Gruber Chapter 1, 2

Assignment 1 (Due 6/24)

Class 3(6/18—6/24)

Externalities, Public Goods

Gruber Chapter 5, 7 (Chapter 6 for discussion)

Discussion 1: Economy vs. Environment

Assignment 2 (Due 7/1)

Class 4(6/25—7/1)

Cost Benefit Analysis, Political Economy

Gruber Chapter8, 9 (Chapter 10 for discussion)

Discussion 2: Education vs. Economic Growth

Assignment3 (Due 7/8)

Class 5(7/2—7/8)

Government Expenditure, Taxation Theory

Gruber Chapter 10, 18 (Chapter 17 for discussion)

Discussion 3:Equality and Economic Growth

Assignment 4 (Due 7/15)

Class 6(7/9—7/15)

Taxation Equity and Efficiency Implications

Gruber Chapter 19, 20 (Chapter 25 for discussion)

Discussion 4:Sugar Tax

Assignment 5 (Due 7/22)

Class 7(7/16—7/22)

Taxes on Labor Supply and Savings

Gruber Chapter 21, 22 (Chapter 23 for discussion)

Discussion 5: Estate tax

Assignment 6 (Due 7/28)

Class 8(7/23—7/28)

Final

Course Wrap Up

EVALUATION

IX.Assignments and exams

** All assignments and exams are due by 11:59pm (Mountain Time) on the days indicated**

Title / Description / Points
Introduce yourself / Getting to know each other (Award extra points to you when you finish this) / 10
Discussions 1-5 / Discussions with colleagues (See schedule above) / 300
(60 each)
Assignment 1-6 / Practice theories of public finance by doing exercises(See schedule above) / 300
(50 each)
Final exam / A take-home, open-book, and essay-based exam covering topics from the first half of the course. The exam must be submitted to Canvas. / 300

X.Rubrics for class activities

The rubric for discussion

Criteria / Full Points / Half Points / No Points
Timeliness of post(10 points) / The post isposted by 11:59pm(MT) on Saturday. / The post isposted after11:59pm (MT) onSaturday but by11:59pm onSunday. / The post is not posted at all.
Quantity of post (10 point) / The post is at least 250 words. / The post is between 100 and 249 words. / The post is less than 100 words.
Number of posts (3 point) / There is at least one follow-up post. / No follow-up posts are posted.
Quantity of follow-up posts (2 point) / The follow-up post is at least 150 words. / The follow-up post is less than 150 words.
Originality and understanding of course material in posts (5 points) / Both original and follow-up posts show good application and restatement of concepts in course content. / Both original and follow-up posts show fair application and restatement of concepts in course content. / Both original and follow-up posts show little application and restatement of concepts in course content.

The rubric for assignment and exam

Criteria / Full Points / Half Points / No Points
Timeliness of assignment (30%) / The assignment is submitted by the due date. / The assignment is submitted after the due date. / The assignment is not submitted at all.
Clarity of thesis statement (20%) / The thesis statement is clear enough to address key concepts associated with given question and instruction. / The thesis statement is fair to address key concepts associated with given question and instruction but missing important concepts. / The thesis statement is totally off the topic and misses all key concepts in given question and instruction.
Strength of supporting details (30%) / The details provide convincing information to support thesis statement. / The details does not provide convincing information to support thesis statement. Or there is no supporting details.
Originality and understanding of course material in posts (20%) / The original answer shows good application and restatement of concepts in course content. / The original answer shows fair application and restatement of concepts in course content. / The answer is not original and shows little application and restatement of concepts in course content.

XI. Basis for Final Grade

Assessment / Points Possible
Assignment 1-5 / 6@50 each = 300
Final Exam / 300
Discussion 1-5 / 5@60 each =300
Total Points / 900
Scale (%)
94-100 / A
90-93 / A-
87-89 / B+
84-86 / B
80-83 / B-
77-79 / C+
74-76 / C
70-73 / C-
67-69 / D+
64-66 / D
60-63 / D-
0 -59 / F

XII.Grade Dissemination

Graded exam and assignments in this course will be returned to you via the Canvas course shell. You can access your scores at any time.

COURSE PROCEDURES

XIII.Course Policies

Grades: This is a core MPA course of SPA; as such a minimum B- grade is required.

Participation:Your class participation is very important as this is an online graduate course. Quality does matter a great deal. I expect your regular and cogent input to each discussion, understanding that at times we will all be dealing with areas of ambiguity (that is, there is not always one correct answer). Please read the Gruber textbook for each module, prior to that class session, so that we can have an informed discussion about the topic. You should also spend some time reviewing the "Highlights,” “Questions and Problems,” and “Advanced Questions.”

Reading Policy: This course entails a substantial amount of reading. You are responsible for all reading assignments for a given week before posting discussions.

Writing Policy: You should demonstrate writing proficiency. My feedback is aimed at improving your writing. APA formatting is required for every paper and exam as follows:

• APA formats (up to and including use of title pages, running heads, levels of heading, intextcitations, references, and so forth), SPA provides academic resources for APA citation and format:

• Double spaced with “Before” and “After” under spacing set to “0”

• Letter size

•1 inch top/bottom and left/right margins

• 12 point Times New Roman font

• Use of scholarly and government literature

Late Work Policy: There are no make-ups for the final exam. All written assignments turned in late will be assessed a penalty: a half-letter grade if it is one day late, or a full-letter grade per day for 2-5 days late.Assignments will not be accepted if overdue by more than five days.

XIV.Technology and Media

Email: I can respond only to emails sent from UCD accounts. I will answer your emails within 24 hours unless I am out of town.

Canvas: This course will mainly use Canvas for course activities. You should check Canvas regularly forannouncements, discussion, and assignments. I will only grade assignments submitted to Canvas. Printed and/or emailed copies are not accepted. Most of our class materials and assignments are availableunderthe Canvas modules.

XV.Changes to the Syllabus

I reserve the right to alter the topics and difficulty levels based on the progress of the class, and any unexpected events. Any changes to the syllabus will be communicated with sufficient advance notice not to cause an emergency on your part.

UNIVERSITY POLICIES

XVI.Access

Disability Access:the University’s policy on disability access.

The University of Colorado Denver strives to provide reasonable accommodation and access to programs and services to persons with disabilities. Students with disabilities who want academic accommodations must register with Disability Resources and Services (DRS) in Academic Building 1, #2116, Phone: 303-315-3510 , Fax: 303-315-3515 and provide a copy of DRS’s letter to me.

XVII.Academic Honesty

Student Code of Conduct: You are expected to know, understand, and comply with the ethical standards of the university, including rules against plagiarism, cheating, fabrication and falsification, multiple submissions, misuse of academic materials, and complicity in academic dishonesty.Please see the following document for details:

Forms of Academic Dishonesty:

All papers and/or assignments are collected into Canvas folders that have a plagiarism detection software: TurnItIn.Please use your own word when writing. The instructor deals with any violation of academic integrity as follows:

1)Failing the course/assignments

2)Assigning zero (lower) grades

XVIII.Nondiscrimination and Sexual Misconduct

The University of Colorado Denver is committed to maintaining a positive learning, working, and living environment. University policy and Title IX prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, pregnancy, creed, religion, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, gender expression, political philosophy or political affiliation in admission and access to, and treatment and employment in, its educational programs and activities

University policy prohibits sexual misconduct, including harassment, domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or related retaliation.If you have experienced some sort of sexual misconduct or discrimination please visit the Office of Equity/Title IX Coordinator (1-844-288-4853).