Welfare economics Need systematic framework to assess the desirability of various government actions. Welfare economics is concerned with the social desirability of alternative economic states. Distinguishes cases when private markets work well from cases where government intervention may be warranted

Introduction Will provide framework for thinking about the normative and positive aspects of government income redistribution policy

Introduction Cost-benefit analysis is a set of practical procedures for guiding public expenditure decisions

Optimal Commodity Taxation Assume that the goal is to finance expenditures with a minimum of excess burden. Assume lump sum taxes are infeasible 3 commodities: Good X. Y, and leisure

Introduction There is substantial dissatisfaction with the federal personal and corporate income tax systems. One possibility is to adopt a consumption tax whose base is actual consumption. Another possibility is a tax on wealth, whose base is accumulated saving

Introduction Besides taxation, the government's' other major revenue source is borrowing. In this lesson, we will: Discuss problems with measuring size of debt Who bears the burden of the debt When is borrowing a suitable way to finance government expenditure

Introduction A corporation is a form of business organization in which ownership is usually represented by transferable stock certificates -Stockholders have limited liability Corporations are independent legal entities · Can make contracts, hold property, incur debt, sue, and be sued

Introduction A key policy question is how do households respond to the incentives presented in the U.S. tax code? We will examine: Labor supply -Saving Housing Portfolio Composition

Introduction Many policies center around whether the tax burden is distributed fairly. Not as simple as analyzing how much in taxes each person actually paid, because of tax-induced changes to price

《公共经济学 Public Economics》课程教学资源：教学大纲