"Public economics (or economics of the public sector) is the study of government policy through the lens of economic efficiency and equity."
The study of government policies and their impact on economic efficiency and equity.
Market Failure: The situations where markets fail to allocate resources efficiently, causing inefficiencies in the economy.
Public Goods: The goods that are provided by the government and that have characteristics such as non-excludability and non-rivalry.
Externalities: The spillover effects that arise from economic activities, which can be positive or negative.
Social Welfare: The valuation of societal well-being, which is a broad concept that incorporates various economic, social, and environmental factors.
Taxation: The process of levying taxes on individuals and businesses, which is a key mechanism for generating government revenues.
Public Expenditure: The spending that is undertaken by the government, which can be categorized into various sectors, such as education, health, and defense.
Government Debt: The amount of money that the government borrows in order to finance its expenditure, which has implications for future generations.
Fiscal Policy: The use of government spending and taxation policies to guide the economy towards desired outcomes, such as economic growth and stability.
Regulatory Policy: The policies that are designed to regulate market activities and ensure that businesses and individuals follow certain standards.
Social Insurance and Safety Nets: The various programs and policies that are designed to provide a social safety net for individuals who are facing economic difficulties.
International Trade: The exchange of goods and services across international borders, which has major implications for economic growth and welfare.
Economic Inequality: The distribution of wealth and income across different groups in society, which is a major concern for public policy.
Public Choice Theory: The branch of economics that studies the behavior of individuals and groups who make decisions on behalf of the public.
Political Economy: The study of the interactions between politics and economics, which covers topics such as political institutions, political ideology, and interest groups.
Behavioral Economics: The study of how people make decisions, which incorporates insights from psychology and other social sciences.
Macroeconomic Theory: The study of the overall performance of the economy, which includes topics such as GDP, inflation, and unemployment.
Microeconomic Theory: The study of the behavior of individuals and firms in markets, which covers topics such as supply and demand, market structure, and consumer behavior.
Fiscal policy: The use of government taxation and spending to influence the economy to stabilize employment, control inflation, and stimulate growth.
Monetary policy: The use of a central bank's tools such as interest rates and money supply to control the money supply and stabilize inflation.
Industrial policy: The deliberate encouragement or discouragement of certain industries by the government.
Trade policy: The use of tariffs or quotas on imports into a country to protect domestic industries from foreign competition.
Public choice theory: The study of how individuals and groups make decisions and allocate resources in the public sphere.
Public goods theory: The study of public goods, which are goods that are non-excludable and non-rival.
Public finance: The study of how governments raise and spend money.
Environmental policy: The use of government regulation to protect the environment.
Health policy: The use of government regulation to promote and protect public health.
Education policy: The use of government regulation to promote and improve education outcomes.
Social welfare policy: The provision of assistance to disadvantaged individuals and groups, such as welfare programs and social security.
Tax policy: The use of taxation to promote economic growth, fairness, and social goals.
Public infrastructure policy: The planning and financing of the infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, and airports, that is necessary for economic activity.
Housing policy: The provision of affordable housing through government intervention.
Agricultural policy: The use of subsidies and other government intervention to promote the agricultural sector.
"Public economics builds on the theory of welfare economics and is ultimately used as a tool to improve social welfare."
"Welfare can be defined in terms of well-being, prosperity, and overall state of being."
"Public economics provides a framework for thinking about whether or not the government should participate in economic markets and if so to what extent it should do so."
"Microeconomic theory is utilized to assess whether the private market is likely to provide efficient outcomes in the absence of governmental interference."
"This study involves the analysis of government taxation and expenditures."
"Broad methods and topics include the theory and application of public finance, analysis and design of public policy, distributional effects of taxation and government expenditures, analysis of market failure and government failure."
"Emphasis is on analytical and scientific methods and normative-ethical analysis, as distinguished from ideology."
"Examples of topics covered are tax incidence, optimal taxation, and the theory of public goods."
"Public economics (or economics of the public sector) is the study of government policy through the lens of economic efficiency and equity."
"Public economics builds on the theory of welfare economics and is ultimately used as a tool to improve social welfare."
"This study involves the analysis of government taxation and expenditures."
"Microeconomic theory is utilized to assess whether the private market is likely to provide efficient outcomes in the absence of governmental interference."
"Examples of topics covered are tax incidence, optimal taxation, and the theory of public goods."
"Emphasis is on analytical and scientific methods and normative-ethical analysis, as distinguished from ideology."
"Analysis and design of public policy" is one of the broad methods and topics included in public economics.
"Analysis and design of public policy" includes the examination of the distributional effects of taxation and government expenditures.
"Broad methods and topics include analysis of market failure and government failure."
"Emphasis is on analytical and scientific methods and normative-ethical analysis, as distinguished from ideology."
"Examples of topics covered are tax incidence, optimal taxation, and the theory of public goods."