PUBLIC POLICY

Catalog description

This course explores key public policy issues through the lens of economic and public choice analysis. Students examine national and state policy, the policy -making process, and economic consequences. Analysis gives particular emphasis to incentives and trade-offs of interventions such as taxation, government spending, and regulation. Specific topics may include income redistribution, government debt, public education, welfare, health care, immigration, criminal justice, human reproduction, environmental policy, and national security concerns. Throughout, students apply analytical methods from both economics and political science to contemporary policy debates. Prerequisite: minimum grade of C in any of ECON 201 or ECON 202 or POLT 203.