Public Affairs 6030: Public Sector Economics

Upon completion of the course, students will have gained a basic understanding of some core microeconomic concepts and methods of analysis as well as some basic macroeconomics. Students will

• Understand and be conversant in key concepts such as efficiency, opportunity costs, comparative advantage, preferences, elasticity, public goods, and externalities.
• Be able to apply tools from microeconomics to improve managerial and policy decision-making in order to better lead and manage in public governance.
• Be able to use economic analysis to evaluate public policy issues.
• Be able to apply and communicate private and public sector methods of addressing violations of the neoclassical model.
• Be able to comprehend and critically evaluate arguments made in public policy debates.
• Be able to read and understand the economics sections of publications such The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, or The Economist.
• Be able to apply the basic concepts learned in the class to other more applied classes taken in the program such as public budgeting and finance and the capstone class.

As part of the Glenn College Economics Stream of the curriculum, this course is designed to prepare students to be able to do the following:

• Evaluate the quality and validity of economic information
• Apply and communicate private and public sector methods of addressing violations of the neoclassical model
• Analyze and evaluate alternative methods of revenue generation and allocation
• Know and apply basic budgeting tools

Homework Assignments: 

• 25% of final grade
• Collaboration optional
• 10 assignments total – each graded out of 50 points, lowest score is dropped
• HW 1 and HW 10 are required and may not be dropped

Exams: 

• 75% of final grade
• Independent work 
• 3 exams total – each graded out of 100 points, exams will be completed in class

This course may require materials. Please check with your specific instructor for details.

Assignments will consist of problem sets. Problem sets are due to Carmen on assigned days by 11:59pm beginning with Problem Set 1 which is due 5/14. See the attached schedule for all homework due dates.Late assignments will not be accepted and receive no credit. To ensure fairness to all students, it is necessary to strictly enforce the no late assignments policy. 

The lowest problem set grade (including late or missed) from Problem Set 2 through Problem Set 9 will be dropped. (Problem Sets 1 and 10 will not be dropped.)

Prior experience has demonstrated that students with strong algebra skills do substantially better in this course. As such, Problem Set 1 is algebra-based and an incentive to refresh these skills very early in the semester. It is also offered with plenty of support. First, there is a Math Review module on Carmen that contains all of the review and practice materials you need to brush up for Problem Set 1. Second, I can meet with any students who would
like help working through the review materials. Please reach out and let me know when you are free. I have a lot of experience helping students get up to speed with the math required for PA 6030 and I am happy to help with this.

Please see individual homework assignments for further explanation, but collaborating on homework assignments is acceptable but not required. Students should always turn in their own work, but working with study groups on homework assignments can be helpful in mastering class materials for some students.

There will be three exams throughout the semester. These exams will be taken in person during the scheduled class time. Exam questions may stem from assigned readings, problem sets, and class discussions. Answer keys for assignments and exams will be made available. We will discuss the format of each exam closer to the time it occurs.

Exams are an assessment of individual mastery of the course content. All work for exams is to be independent work and collaboration is prohibited.