Public finance and public policy / Jonathan Gruber.

Table of contents
Chapter 1 Why study public finance?1
1.1 The Four Questions of public finance 3-9
1.2 Why study public finance? facts on government in the United States and Around the world 10-19
1.3 Why study public finance Now? Policy debates over social, security, healthcare, and education 20-21
1.4 conclusion 22-24
CCHAPTER 2 THEORETICAL TOOLS OF PUBLIC FINANCE 25
2.1 Constrained utility maximization 26-35
2.2 Putting the tools to work: TANF and labour supply Among single mothers 37-39
2.3Equilibrium and social welfare 43-54
2.4 Welfare implications of benefit reductions: The TANF example continued 55-60
CHAPTER 3 EMPIRICAL TOOLS OF PUBLIC FINANCE 63
3.1 The important distinction between correlation trails 64-65
3.2 Measuring causation with data we'd like to have: Randomized trails 66-70
3.3 Estimating causation with data we actually get: Observational Data 71-83
3.4 conclusions 85-88
CHAPTER 4 BUDGET ANALYSIS AND DEFICIT FINANCING 91
4.1 Government budgeting 93-97
4.2 Measuring the budgetary position of the government: Alternative Approaches 98-102
4.3 Do current debts and deficits mean anything? Along run perspective 103-112
4.4 Why do we care about the government's fiscal position? 113-117
4.5 conclusions 118-120
CHAPTER 5 EXTERNALITIES: PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS 121
5.1 Externality Theory 123- 128
5.2 Private-sector solutions to Negative externalities 130-132
5.3 Public-Sector Remedies for Externalities 134 -137
5.4 Distinctions between price and Quality Approaches to Addressing Externalities 137-143
5.5 conclusion 146-148
CHAPTER 6 EXTERNALITIES IN ACTION: ENVIRONMENTAL AND HEALTH EXTERNALITIES 149
6.1 acid rain 150-152
6.2 Global warming 155-162
6.3 The Economics of smoking 165-170
6.4 The Economics of other addictive behavior 173-177
6.5 conclusion 177-179

CHAPTER 7 PUBLIC GOODS 181
7.1 Optimal provision of public goods 182-185
7.2 Private provision of public goods 187-192
7.3 Public provision of public goods 194-198
7.4 conclusion 199-202
CHAPTER 8 COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS 205
8.1 measuring the cost of public projects 206-209
8.3 Putting it all together 221-221
8.4 conclusions 223-225
CHAPTER 9 POLITICAL ECONOMY 227
9.1 Unanimous consent on public goods levels 229-231
9.2 Mechanisms for aggregating individual preferences 232-240
9.3 Representative democracy 241-248
9.4 Public choice theory: The foundations of government failure 249-258
9.5 conclusion 258-260

CHAPTER 10 STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURES 261
10.1 Fiscal federalism in the united states and abroad 263-265
10.2 Optimal fiscal federalism 267-274
10.3 Redistribution across communities 275-285
10.4 conclusion 285-287
CHAPTER 11 EDUCATION 289
11.1 Why should the government be involved in education?292-294
11.2 How is the government involved in education? 294-300
11.3 Evidence on competition in education markets 304-307
11.4 Measuring the returns to education 307-310
11.5 The role of government in higher education 311-314
11.6 Conclusion 315-317

CHAPTER 12 SOCIAL INSURANCE: THE NEW FUNCTION OF GOVENMENT 319
12.1 What is insurance and why do individuals value it? 321-323
12.2 Why have social? Asymmetric Information and adverse selections 326-332
12.3 Other reasons for government intervention in insurance markets 333-334
12.4 social insurance vs. self-insurance: How much consumption smoothing? 337-341
12.5 The problem with insurance: Moral Hazard 342-345
12.6 putting it all together: Optimal social insurance 346-350

CHAPTER 13 SOCIAL SECURITY 353
13.1 What is social security and how does it work? 354-362
13.2 Consumption-smoothing benefits of social security 364-366
13.3 Social security and retirement 367-374
13.4 social security reform 374-384
13.5 conclusion 385387

CHAPTER 14 UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE, DISABILITY, INSURANCE, AND WORKERS' COMPENSATION 389
14.1 Institutional features of unemployment insurance, disability insurance, workers' compensation 391-396
14.2 Consumption-smoothing benefits of social insurance programs 397-
14.3 moral 398-405
14.4 the cost and benefits of social insurance to firms 406-409
14.5 Implications fro program reform 410-412
14.6 Conclusion 413-416

CHAPTER 15 HEALTH INSURANCE I: HEALTH ECONOMICS AND PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE 419
15.1 An overview of health care in the united states 421-430
15.2 How generous should insurance be to patients? 432-442
15.3 How generous should insurance be to medical providers? 445-448
15.4 conclusion 448-450

CHAPTER 16 HEALTH INSURANCE II: MEDICARE, MEDAID, AND HEALTH CARE REFORM 453
16.1 The medicaid program for low income mothers and children455-457
16.2 What are the effects of the medicaid program? 457-461
16.3 The medicare program 462-463
16.4 what are the effects of the medicare program? 466-474
16.5 Long-term care 475
16.6 Lessons for health care reform in the united states 476-484
16.7 Conclusions 484-486

CHAPTER 17 INCOME DISTRIBUTION AND WELFARE PROGRAMS 489
17.1 Facts on income distribution in the united states 491-496
17.2 welfare policy in the united states 496-498
17.3 The moral hazard cost of welfare policy 499-505
17.4 Reducing the moral hazard of welfare 505-513
17.5 Welfare reform 517-518
17.6 conclusion 519-521

CHAPTER 18 TAXATION IN UNITED STATES AND AROUND THE WORLD 523
18.1Types of taxation 524-525
18.2 structure of the individual income tax in the united states 527-531
18.3 measuring the fairness of tax systems 536-531
18.4 Defining the income tax base 536-538
18.5 Externality/public goods rationales for deviating from Haig-simons 539-549
18.6 The appropriate unit of taxation 550-552
18.7 Conclusion 554-556

CHAPTER 19 THE EQUITY IMPLICATIONS OF TAXATION:TAX INCIDENCE 557
19.1 The three rules of tax incidence 559-567
19.2 tax incidence extensions 568-574
19.3 General equilibrium tax incidence 575-577
19.4 the incidence of taxation in the united states 580--584
19.5 conclusion 584-587
CHAPTER 20 TAX INFLUENCIES AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR OPTIMAL TAXATION 589
20.1 Taxation and economic efficiency 560-601
20.2 optimal commodity taxation 601-603
20.3 optimal income taxes 607-610
20.4 tax-benefit linkages and the financing of social insurance programs 611-615
20.5 conclusions 616-619

CHAPTER 21 TAXES ON LABOR SUPPLY 623
21.1 Taxation and labor supply-theory 628-630
21.2 Tax policy to promote labor supply: The earned income tax credit 631-637
21.4 The tax treatment of child care and its impact on labor supply 639-643
21.5 conclusion 643-645

CHAPTER 22 TAXES ON SAVINGS 647
22.1 Taxation and savings- Theory and evidence 648-653
22.2 Alternative models of saving 655-657
22.3 Tax incentives for retirement savings 658-671
22.4 conclusions 672-674

CHAPTER 23 TAXES ON RISK TAKING AND WEALTH 675
23.1 Taxation and risk taking 677-680
23.2 Capital gains taxation 681-688
23.3 Transfer taxation 688-691
23.4 Property 694-696
23.5 Conclusion 698-700
CHAPTER 24 CORPORATE TAXATION 701
24.1 What are corporations and why do we tax them 703-708
24.2 The structure of the corporate tax 709-712
24.3 The incidence of the corporate tax 713
24.4 the consequences of the corporate tax for investment 714-721
24.5 The consequences of the corporate tax for financing 722-729
24.6 Treatment of international corporate income 730-731
24.7 Conclusion 734736

CHAPTER 25 FUNDAMENTAL TAX REFORM 737
25.1 Why fundamental tax reform? 738-748
25.2 The politics and economics of tax reform 748-753
25.3 Consumption taxation 754-762
25.4 The flat tax 763-765
25.5 Conclusion 767-768

Glossary-G-1
References R-1
Name Index NI-1
Subject Index SI-1






Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.