Public Economics II
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this graduate-level public economics course covering government expenditure policy. Topics include the theory of public goods, education policy, state and local public finance, political economy, redistribution and welfare policy, social insurance programs such as Social Security and unemployment insurance, and health care policy. Materials include lecture notes, readings drawn from academic papers, and problem sets that work through the theoretical models and empirical evidence economists use to evaluate spending programs. The course pairs with a companion course on taxation (Public Economics I) but stands on its own for students focused on the spending side of public finance. As with other MIT OCW offerings, all materials are free to access under a Creative Commons license, with no certificate offered.