UMass Boston

Course Overview

Description

This required core course covers the issues in microeconomics, behavioral economics, public finance, and (to a small degree) macroeconomics that are relevant to policy analysts. The course begins by discussion consumer choices and producer behavior in a competitive market setting. The course then explores circumstances of market failures, first within the neoclassical economic model and then in the context of alternative economic theories. The discussion of consumer and producer behaviors in a competitive market provides students with a reference point for the subsequent discussions of market failures since it describes an abstract, optimally working market setting. The course critically examines market efficiency and the elimination of market failures as normative criteria on for policy development and evaluation. The course specifically considers the policy implications of other, potentially competing goals such as equity.

Prerequisites

Graduate degree student in Public Policy or graduate student with permission of instructor