ECONOMICS 120

ECONOMICS OF THE PUBLIC SECTOR

This course focuses on the economic role of the public sector (i.e., government) in a market
economy. This role includes government provision of certain "public" goods and services (either
as a direct producer or as an intermediary source of tax-based financing) and regulation of private
market activity. The latter include the regulation of natural monopoly (e.e., public utilities),
regulations affecting competitive conditions (antitrust), and environmental regulation. We
conclude with an economic analysis of the democratic political process. In all of this, we shall be
concerned with both the normative question of what government should do and the positive
question of how and why government actually does what it does.

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