Public Economics ERASMUS 2021

This is the basic course in public economics. Public economics focus on the role of the government in the economy by answering key questions like:

• How do government policies affect the economy?
• How should government policies be designed to maximize economic welfare?

The main objective of the course is to equip students with the basic analytical concepts, theoretical and empirical tools in public economics so as to understand the ‘real-world’ policy making issues faced by policymakers and applied economists in national (e.g. Government Departments, Fiscal Councils and Central Banks) and international policy institutions (e.g. IMF, OECD, European Commission).

By the end of this course students will be able to use the main analytical tools, theoretical models and empirical evidence to:

• Understand and explain issues on public finances, e.g. tax and government expenditures, budget deficits/surpluses and public debt sustainability.
• Analyze efficiency and equity concepts.
• Market failures and government intervention.
• Political economy issues, e.g. how the government make decisions.
• The effect of taxation on the economy, types of taxation, principles of optimal taxation.

Students will learn how to use and interpret modern theoretical models so as to study economic policy issues as well as to process and interpret economic data for policy analysis. Ultimately, students will acquire necessary skills and competences so as to pursuit a professional career as applied economists to policy-orientated institutions.