Public Finance and Public Policy
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When first published, Gruber's Public Finance and Public Policy brought a refreshingly contemporary approach. It was the first text written from the ground up to reflect current realities of public finance, enhancing its survey of traditional topics with an emphasis on empirical work and coverage of transfer programs and social insurance. The new edition, fully updated with the most recent data and research possible, includes new coverage of the Medicare drug benefit, changes in the tax code, Hurricane Katrina, and the ongoing debate over privatization.
Part I. Background 1. Why Study Public Finance? The Four Questions of Public Finance Why Study Public Finance? Facts on Government in the U.S. and Around the World Why Study Public Finance Now? Policy Debates over Social Security, Health Care, and Education2. Theoretical Tools of Public Finance Constrained Utility Maximization Putting the Tools to Work: TANF and Labor Supply Among Single Mothers Equilibrium and Social Welfare Welfare Implications of Benefit Reductions: The TANF Example Continued Appendix: The Mathematics of Utility Maximization3. Empirical Tools of Public Finance The Important Distinction between Correlation and Causality Measuring Causality with Data We'd Like To Have: Randomized Trials Estimating Causation with Data We Actually Get: Behavioral Observations Appendix: Cross-sectional Regression Analysis Example4. Tools of Budget Analysis Federal Budgeting Do Debts and Deficits Mean Anything? A Long Run Perspective Why Do We Care About the Government's Fiscal Position?Part II. Externalitites and Public Goods 5. Externalities: Problems and Solutions Externality Theory Private Sector Solutions to Externalities Public Sector Solutions to Externalities Distinctions between Price and Quantity Approaches to Regulation6. Externalities in Action: Environmental and Health Externalities Acid Rain Global Warming The Economics of Smoking The Externalities of Other Addictive Behaviors7. Public Goods: Problems and Solutions Optimal Provision of Public Goods Private Provision of Public Goods Public Provision with Private Provision Appendix: Mathematics of Public Goods8. Cost/Benefit Analysis Measuring the Benefits of Public Goods Measuring the Costs of Public Goods Putting it all Together: Cost/Benefit Comparisons9. Implementing Public Goods: Political Economy and Public Choice Optimal Financing of Public Goods and its Problems Mechanisms for Aggregating Individual Preferences Representative Democracy and the Median Voter Theory Public Choice Theory: The Foundations of Government Failure10. State and Local Government Expenditures Fiscal Federalism in the U.S. and Abroad Optimal Fiscal Federalism Should We Redistribute Across Communities? Intergovernmental Grants11. Public Goods in Action: Education Why Should the Government be Involved in Education? How Should the Government be Involved in Education? Crowding Out and Vouchers Measuring the Returns to Education The Role of the Government in Higher EducationPART III. SOCIAL INSURANCE AND REDISTRIBUTION 12. Social Insurance What is Insurance and Why do Individuals Value it? Why Have Social Insurance? Social Insurance vs. Self-Insurance: How Much Consumption Smoothing? The Problem with Insurance: Moral Hazard Putting it All Together: Optimal Social Insurance Appendix: Expected Utility Model and Adverse Selection13. Social Security What is Social Security and How Does It Work? Consumption Smoothing Benefits of Social Security Social Security and Retirement Social Security Reform14. Unemployment Insurance, Workers' Compensation and Disability Insurance Institutional Features of UI, WC and DI Consumption Smoothing Benefits of Social Insurance Programs Moral Hazard Effects of Social Insurance Programs The Costs and Benefits of Social Insurance to Firms Implications for Program Reform Appendix: Quasi-experimental Estimates of the Effects of UI15. Health Insurance I: Health Economics and Private Health Insurance An Overview of Health Care in the U.S. The Efficiency Costs of Health Insurance: Patient-side Moral Hazard The Efficiency Costs of Health Insurance: Provider-side Moral Hazard16. Health Insurance II: Medicare and Medicaid The Medicaid Program for Low Income Mothers and Children What are the Effects of the Medicaid Program The Medicare Program What are the Effects of the Medicare Program? Long Term Care Lessons for Health Care Reform in the U.S.17. Income Distribution and Welfare Why Redistribute? Welfare Policy in the U.S. The Costs of Welfare Policy Reforming WelfarePART IV. TAXATION IN THEORY AND PRACTICE 18. Taxation in the U.S. and Around the World Types of Taxation in the U.S. and Other Nations Basic Structure of the Income Tax in the U.S. Measuring the Distributional Properties of Tax Systems Defining the Income Tax Base Externality/Public Goods Rationales for Deviating from Haig-Simons The Appropriate Unit of Taxation19. The Equity Implications of Taxation--Tax Incidence The Three Rules of Tax Incidence Tax Incidence Extensions General Equilibrium Tax Incidence The Incidence of Taxation in the U.S. Appendix: The Mathematics of Tax Incidence20. Tax Inefficiencies and Their Implications for Optimal Taxation Taxation and Economic Efficiency Optimal Commodity Taxation Optimal Income Taxation Tax/Benefit Linkages and the Financing of Social Insurance Programs Appendix: The Mathematics of Optimal Taxation21. Taxes on Labor Supply Taxation and Labor Supply: Theory Taxation and Labor Supply: Evidence Tax Incentives and Labor Supply Decisions: The Earned Income Tax Credit The Tax Treatment of Child Care Expenditures22. Taxation of Savings Taxation of Savings: Theory Taxation of Savings: Evidence Tax Incentive for Savings23. Taxes on Risk Taking and Wealth Taxation and Risk-Taking: Theory and Evidence Tax Evasion Capital Gains Taxation Estate Taxation Property Taxation24. Issues of Corporate Taxation What are Corporations and Why Do We Tax Them? The Structure of the Corporate Tax The Efficiency Consequences of the Corporate Tax--Investment Treatment of International Corporate Income The Efficiency Consequences of the Corporate Tax--Financing25. Tax Reform Tax Rates and Tax Revenues Tax Simplicity Tax Reform Dynamics: The Politics of Tax Reform Consumption Taxation and Other Fundamental Tax Reforms
