Public Economics

Author: John Leach
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: "Mathematicians call simple, profound, and decisive proofs elegant; in this sense, this is an elegant textbook. Its topic is the economic theory of government policies under market failures. The book employs the methodology of applied microeconomic theory, using simple models and model-based reasoning, repeatedly shifting between various analyses (using algebra, geometry, and basic calculus knowledge) and intuition, to develop and apply fundamental theory. The logic of this book is clear and precise, not only providing students with first-class economic reasoning but also teaching them to think like economists." – Boston University, Richard Arnott "As an excellent core textbook, it explains modern public economics in a way that is easy for students to understand and master, supplemented with typical cases and beneficial common sense, and emphasizes the public economic analysis of daily public policy issues. It not only covers the standard field of public finance but also involves related fields such as labor economics, industrial organization, macroeconomics, finance, and incomplete information economics." – Queen’s University at Kingston, RobinBoadway The second part of this book discusses the two fundamental theorems of welfare economics. These theorems show that competitive markets can lead to socially satisfactory outcomes and describe the necessary conditions. The second part of this book discusses the types of market failures that arise when these conditions are not met—externalities, public goods, imperfect competition, and information asymmetry, examining the role of government in addressing market failures; it also studies the limitations of government behavior, particularly those arising from information asymmetry. Teachers who use this book as a textbook can obtain additional teaching resources, including solutions to end-of-chapter exercises. These materials can be obtained through the following website: www.socsci.mcmaster.ca/leach