University of Minnesota

Fall 2009 ECON 4821

Public Economics

Section 1: MWF 12:20-1:10PM Blegen Hall 240

Contact Information

Instructor: Justin Barnette

Office: 3-129 Hanson Hall

Phone: (612)-625-2024

E-mail: barn0340 at umn dot edu

Homepage: www.econ.umn.edu/~barnette/

Office Hours: Wednesdays 2:30 to 4:30PM

Note on Communication:  The best way to contact me is through email.  I will try to respond to emails within 24 hours.  Additionally, I will contact the class occasionally by email.

Final Exam Wednesday, December 23 8:00am-10:00am

Announcements

• The timeline for this course is complete.
• PS4 is available below.
• The due date for the outline is Monday November 23 as mentioned in class.
• Presentation Dates are Posted.
• Review Session on Tuesday.
• Midterm from last year for review: 4821_Midterm_2008.pdf
• Discuss with your group and email the date for which you prefer to present. Additionally, let me know if you prefer to present first, second or are indifferent between presenting first or second.
• See PS2 posted below.
• For the group presentations, we will have 8 groups where the groups can have 4-5 students. 
• We will have 4 groups of 4 students and 4 groups of 5 students. 
• However, these numbers can change.  For example, if somebody wants a group of 3 this will increase the groups of 5 students.  Additionally, these numbers may change based on students dropping/adding the course as well.
• I posted my slides for Ch. 3 below with more clarification.
• See PS1 posted below.
• Syllabus available for download here: Syllabus_Econ_4821_Public.pdf

Homework

• HW is always due at the beginning of lecture of the due date unless I note otherwise.
• PS1: PS1_Econ_4821.pdf
• PS2: PS2_Econ_4821.pdf - Updated 10/16/09
• PS3: PS3_Econ_4821.pdf
• PS4: PS4_Econ_4821.pdf

Group Presentations

• Presentation Statement: Presentation_Statement_Econ_4821.pdf
• Grading Guideline: Presentation_Grading_Econ_4821.pdf

Date	Day	Order	Group #	Group Topic
4-Dec	Friday	1st	1	Minneapolis Light Rail
4-Dec	Friday	2nd	2	The Impact of Mandatory Health Insurance
7-Dec	Monday	1st	6	The Economic Relationship between China and the US
7-Dec	Monday	2nd	3	Fiscal Stimulus
9-Dec	Wednesday	1st	7	Tariffs and the Sugar Industry
9-Dec	Wednesday	2nd	5	Too Big to Fail
11-Dec	Friday	1st	4	Issues with Cap and Trade
11-Dec	Friday	2nd	8	Government Savings Programs

General Economic news

• Marketplace:
• 10 Minute Morning Report at 4:50AM, 5:50AM, 7:50AM, 8:50AM on 91.1FM in the Twin Cities
• 30 Minute Program at 6:30PM on 91.1FM in the Twin Cities
• The Economist
• Wall Street Journal

Economic news Mentioned in lecture

• The Wall Street Journal offers a nice overview of the health-care reform proposals. (The Economist)
• Chinese and US Trade War (US Imposes Tariffs, Will it lead to a trade war?)
• A Poster on US Government Expenditures and Taxes
• Will the US following Japan’s Decade of Stimulus? (Wall Street Journal)

Economic Blogs

• Marginal Revolution with Tyler Cowen
• Mark Thoma’s Blog: Economist’s View
• Greg Mankiw’s Blog
• Paul Krugman’s Blog

lecture slides

I will base my lectures on the following slides:

• Chapter_17.ppt
• Chapter_16.ppt
• Chapter_15.ppt
• Chapter_14.ppt
• Chapter_13.ppt
• Chapter_12.ppt
• Chapter_11.ppt
• Chapter_10_Students.ppt
• Chapter_09_Students.ppt
• Chapter_07_Students.ppt
• Chapter_06.ppt
• Chapter_05_Students.ppt
• Chapter_04_Students.ppt
• Chapter_03_Students.ppt
• Slides from Lecture: Chapter_03.ppt
• Chapter_02_Students.ppt
• Chapter_01.ppt

Timeline

Date	Day	Chapter	Due Dates
9-Sep	Wednesday	intro
11-Sep	Friday	1
14-Sep	Monday	2
16-Sep	Wednesday	3
18-Sep	Friday	3
21-Sep	Monday	4
23-Sep	Wednesday	4
25-Sep	Friday	6	3 Questions/Team
28-Sep	Monday	6
30-Sep	Wednesday	5
2-Oct	Friday	PS1 and 5
5-Oct	Monday	5	PS1 Due
7-Oct	Wednesday	5
9-Oct	Friday	5
12-Oct	Monday	5 and 9
14-Oct	Wednesday	9 and 10
16-Oct	Friday	PS2 and 9
19-Oct	Monday	9 and 10	PS2 Due
21-Oct	Wednesday	PS1AK and 9/10
23-Oct	Friday	PS2 AK
26-Oct	Monday	Review
28-Oct	Wednesday	Midterm
30-Oct	Friday	Midterm AK
2-Nov	Monday	7
4-Nov	Wednesday	7
6-Nov	Friday	11
9-Nov	Monday	11	Final Problem Statement
11-Nov	Wednesday	12
13-Nov	Friday	PS3 and 12
16-Nov	Monday	13	PS3 Due
18-Nov	Wednesday	13
20-Nov	Friday	14
23-Nov	Monday	PS3 AK	Outline and Sources
25-Nov	Wednesday	15
27-Nov	Friday	Holiday
30-Nov	Monday	15
2-Dec	Wednesday	PS4 and 16
4-Dec	Friday	Presentations
7-Dec	Monday	Presentations	PS4 Due
9-Dec	Wednesday	Presentations
11-Dec	Friday	Presentations
14-Dec	Monday	PS4 AK
16-Dec	Wednesday	Review
23-Dec	Wednesday	Final Exam	8-10AM