Intermediate Public Economics

by Jean Hindriks, Gareth D. Myles

Public economics studies how government taxing and spending activities affect theeconomy--economic efficiency and the distribution of income and wealth. This comprehensive text inpublic economics covers the core topics market failure and taxation as well as recent developmentsin the political economy and public choice literatures. It is unique not only in its broad scope butin its balance between public finance and public choice and its combination of theory and relevantempirical evidence.After introducing the theory and methodology of public economics and reviewingthe efficiency of the competitive equilibrium, the book presents a historical and theoreticaloverview of the public sector. It then discusses departures from efficiency, including imperfectcompetition and asymmetric information; issues in political economy, including rent-seeking (a topicoften omitted from other texts); equity; taxation issues, including tax evasion and itsconsequences; fiscal federalism and tax competition among independent jurisdictions; and theintertemporal issues of social security and economic growth.This text introduces the reader to thetheory of public economics and the most significant results of the analysis, providing an overviewof the current state of the field. It is accessible to anyone with a background of intermediatemicroeconomics and macroeconomics and can be used in advanced undergraduate as well as graduatecourses. Although the mathematics has been kept to a minimum, the book remains analytical ratherthan discursive. Annotated suggestions for further reading and numerous exercises are included atthe end of each chapter.

Genres: Economics, Nonfiction

Hardcover

First published April 7, 2006

Reviews

[Tiny Quasar group · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a difference between a book and an instruction manual, this one feels like the later. The graphs aren’t properly explained as to how they were drawn and what do they represent. Take the graphs in chapter 6 for example- it’s just curved lines and no explanation is given as to what they represent.

A book is meant to replicate the feeling as if a teacher is right there and explaining everything to you but since this is an instruction manual, author hasn’t mentioned any of his personal opinions in most of the places. Take the example of Coase theorem, looks completely insensible to me since in a real world, one party will always be stronger than the other and hence there is little scope left for bargain, government will have to step in or else market will fail. Author should have mentioned the cons and his personal opinions of various theorems.

[Tana Masasila]

chapter one

[Victor Liu · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not very intuitive, tough to follow