Economics of the Public Sector

by Joseph E. Stiglitz, Jay K. Rosengard

The long awaited revision of a classic text by an expert author team.

What should be the role of government in society? How should it design its programs? How should tax systems be designed to promote both efficiency and fairness? Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz and new co-author Jay Rosengard use their first-hand policy-advising experience to address these key issues of public-sector economics in this modern and accessible Fourth Edition.

Genres: Economics, Politics, Textbooks, Reference, Academic, Nonfiction

960 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 1986

About the author

Joseph Eugene Stiglitz, ForMemRS, FBA, is an American economist and a professor at Columbia University. He is a recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2001) and the John Bates Clark Medal (1979). He is also the former Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank. He is known for his critical view of the management of globalization, free-market economists (whom he calls "free market fundamentalists") and some international institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

In 2000, Stiglitz founded the Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD), a think tank on international development based at Columbia University. Since 2001, he has been a member of the Columbia faculty, and has held the rank of University Professor since 2003. He also chairs the University of Manchester's Brooks World Poverty Institute and is a member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. Professor Stiglitz is also an honorary professor at Tsinghua University School of Public Policy and Management. Stiglitz is one of the most frequently cited economists in the world.

Reviews

[Florencia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lectura obligatoria para la facultad

[Butch Lazorchak · Rating 3 out of 5]

The sad thing is that most everything being discussed in this mid-80's edition is still on the table in 2017 (i.e. healthcare). The good thing is almost everything in this edition is still of interest to those studying public policy and taxation now.

[Ida]

I read it for my Public Economic Class.

[Lingling · Rating 4 out of 5]

作者是著名经济学家，得过诺贝尔，曾在美国政府及世界货币基任职多年。这本也是经济学的教科书，没有想象中的好懂，但基本概念结合日常生活（报税及工作中对医疗行业的了解）还是可以理解70%以上。当初想看这本书也是因为想对医疗福利法规有更深入地了解。

其实对Medicare，Medicaid&social security这块谈得并不深，相比之下精算考试内容深入地多。但从经济学角度来看也很有意思。比如医疗市场不同于一般消费品，信息不对称，医生比患者拥有的信息更多，患者可做的选择有限。另一方面，对医疗保险来说，健康的人可能不会买保险，或者穷人买不起保险出了事去ER加重整个医疗系统负担，所以需要政策干预来扩大risk pool。

政府对经济的参与主要由公共物资的属性（可让大众获利但开发成本高边际成本低）决定。Pareto efficiency是一个核心概念。

谈税收的部分很有意思。税收的一大作用就是对财富的再分配/转移（progressivity）到底应该对收入还是消费征税？各项税法条款短期作用和长期作用的不同。incidence of taxation也很有意思，就是说税收针对的对象跟最后买单的人可能不一样。比如公司收入税，不是corporate付的，最终是由股东，员工或者消费者承担，各个群体承担的比例则根据不同情况而不同。政府可以通过某些税法条款来鼓励或抑制纳税人的行为（投资，储蓄，买房等）。房产交易的step up basis（子女继承房产时）。1991年的税法最高税率从28%升到了31%（细分了一下），开始有人担心这会影响高收入的labor supply，结果并没有发生。marriage penalty对夫妇收入差不多的比两方收入差距大的家庭收入税要高。

税收对不同行业以及不同人群行为的影响跟供需的弹性（非常重要的概念）很相关（弹性低的对价格不敏感），也跟市场特性有关（充分竞争还是垄断）。

substitution effect&income effect are also important concepts to grasp.

联邦政府对地方公共物品的干预主要缘于市场失灵（externalities和有限竞争）和地方政府无法有效地再分配收入。

租控长期来看伤害的是租客，因为租房市场会干涸。

[Salwa Dz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book will help you understand how the global economy works. Easy to read for anyone, even one who comes from a non-economics background. Will do the same for first-year economics students as well.

[Fian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am interested to read and want to add knowledge

[Dániel Kraft · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book to understand the economy of public sector. Provides a guidance how to approach decisions in public sector.

[Patch Sing · Rating 4 out of 5]

My most memorable undergrad read. Might nab a physical copy down the line.

[Buddhika]

good

[Iana]

super