Month

Day

Coverage

January

15

Tuesday

First Class--introduction and procedural details

January

17

Thursday

What is public finance and how does it relate to economics in general? (Ch. 1-2, Ch.3--pp. 45-48 only and Appendix  pp. 558-560)

January

22

Tuesday

The role of the market and the role of government and the growth of government (Ch. 1-2, Ch.3--pp. 46-50 only and Appendix  pp. 563-565) Big Government Is Bigger Than You Think  and  The "True" Size of Government--2003)

January

24

Thursday

The role of the market and the role of government;  Begin private and public goods (Ch. 4)

January

29

Tuesday

Private and public goods: efficiency and equilibrium (Ch. 4) Fund Raising in Vermont

January

31

Thursday

Public goods continue. (Ch. 4) Sharing the Cost of Defense Spending,

February

5

Tuesday

Begin externalities (Ch. 5) Coase: Nobel Prize Citation  Road Pricing in Stockholm Congestion Pricing in London Market-Based Approaches to Environmental Policy

February

7

Thursday

Complete externalities.  Begin public choice (Ch. 6) Pliny, Voting and Impeachment, James Buchanan: Nobel Prize Citation, and Amartya Sen: Nobel Prize Citation 

February

12

Tuesday

No Class�Dismissed for extra time for out-of-class exams

February

14

Thursday

Public choice.

February

19

Tuesday

Complete public choice, begin benefit-cost analysis (Ch. 8) 

February

21

Thursday

Complete benefit-cost analysis (Ch. 8), begin Redistribution (Ch. 12 )  Class Action:  The Causes and Consequence of Increasing U. S. Inequality  Economic Inequality in the United States

February

26

Tuesday

Redistribution continues, programs for the poor (Ch.13)

February

28

Thursday

Redistribution (Ch. 13) 

March

4

Tuesday

Conclude redistribution, education (Ch. 7) and health care (Chs. 9-10)   Asymmetric Information and Insurance Markets.  The first exam will be returned and discussed before (7:40-8:00 am) and after class (9:15-9:25 am).

March

6

Thursday

Health care continues.

March

11

Tuesday

No Class�Dismissed for extra time for out-of-class exams

March

13

Thursday

No Class�Dismissed for extra time for out-of-class exams

March

18

Tuesday

March

20

Thursday

March

25

Tuesday

Social security (Ch. 11) Rates of Return from Social Security, Has Social Security Ever Been Raided-Interview with Robert Reischauer

March

27

Thursday

Conclude social security Report of Presidential Social Security Commission,  Perspectives from the President�s Commission on Social Security Reform,  Invest social security, but don�t privatize--Modigliani and Can The Stock Market Save Social Security? , Brookings Panel) Social Security Forum  (Audio and Video  

Begin taxation (Chs. 14-16)

April

1

Tuesday

 Continue taxation (Chs. 14- 16) 

April

3

Thursday

Continue introduction to taxation  On-line video presentation-Lincoln Institute of Land Policy:  Giertz

April

8

Tuesday

Conclude introduction to taxation    Begin individual income tax (Ch. 17-18)

April

10

Thursday

Individual income tax (Ch. 17-18) and supplementary on reserve: Slemrod and Bakija, and  If Americans Really Understood the Income Tax , Income Tax Burdens by Income.

April

15

Tuesday

Individual income tax  First Income Tax Return; Economic Report of President--Tax Chapter 2006  

April

17

Thursday

Conclude income tax.   Corporate and business taxation (Ch. 19)

April

22

Tuesday

Class dismissed in order to attend lecture by CBO Director Peter Orszag: 2:00 pm in Room 134 Temple Buell today-April 22.  For more information see:  http://www.business.uiuc.edu/publications/emails/2008/04-22-orszag/

April

24

Thursday

April

29

Tuesday

Last Class    Consumption taxes including expenditure taxes and general sales taxes (Ch. 21) Property taxes and death and gift taxes (Ch. 21 and Ch. 22-pp. 521-528)  

May

6

Tuesday

FINAL EXAMINATION Coverage: Chapters 14-19 and 21 and 22 (pp. 521-528). The exam will be held from 7:00-9:00 PM, in the regular classroom.  Paper due for graduate students.