Public Economics

Public Economics is a wide-ranging discipline, being concerned with most aspects of economic policy. This topic covers both principles and applications. The objectives are to provide an understanding of:

• the welfare theoretic foundations of policy analysis, and the constraints on government action;

• the considerations that are involved in the design of specific taxes, and the implications for the relation between aggregate revenue and spending;

• the rationale for the major categories of public spending; and to encourage:

• a critical appreciation of the strengths, weaknesses and consequences of the types of taxation and expenditure system which arise in practice, mainly but not exclusively in relation to the UK.