*Mark R. Isaac, Kenneth F. McHugh, and Charles R. Plott, “Public Goods Provision in an Experimental Environment,” Journal of Public Economics, vol. 26, no. 1 (February 1985), pp. 51-74 (on LATTE). September 1 Questions for first paper will be handed out in class and put on Latte in the evening. Paper will be due at midnight on Tuesday, October 3. TOPIC 1 (continued) Why do private markets sometimes fail to satisfy our economic needs and wants? Some further theoretical considerations: asymmetric information, adverse selection, moral hazard. Background in health insurance that you might have gained from other courses will come in handy. Jonathan Gruber, Public Finance and Public Policy, 4th ed., Worth Publishers (New York: 2013), pp. 328-334 (on LATTE). Rosen and Gayer, pp. 176-192 (read Gruber selection first). (9th ed. pp. 180-196.) 2. In a federal system like that of the United States, which level of government should do what, especially if economic efficiency is the primary goal? Congressional Budget Office, Federal Grants to State and Local Governments, March 5, 2013. . September 8—No Class (Brandeis Monday) READINGS FOR FIRST PART OF CLASS ON SEPTEMBER 15 (Continuation of Topic 2) Rosen and Gayer, pp. 497-510. (9th edition, pp. 505-519.) Richard A. Musgrave and Mitchell Polinsky, “Revenue Sharing—A Critical Review,” in Financing and Local Governments, Conference 3, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, June 14-16, 1970, pp. 17-19. http://www.bos.frb.org/economic/conf/conf3/conf3c.pdf (Also on Robert Tannenwald, “Devolution in the United States in Theory and Practice,” in Fiscal Rules, Proceedings of a Conference Organized by the Central Bank of Italy, February 3, 2001, Perugia, Italy, pp. 739-741. (ON LATTE) Tim Logan, “Housing Boom Isn’t Hitting the Boston Suburbs,” Boston Globe, May 13, 2016.
*Slemrod and Bakija, Taxing Ourselves: pp. 59-99 (on line from Goldfarb). *U.S. Joint Committee on Taxation, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2012-2017. Government Accounting Printing Office (Washington, D.C.: February 1, 2013), . October 20 TOPIC 9. The Property Tax, Sales Tax, and Excise Taxes Guest Lecturer: Joan Youngman, Lincoln Institute, Cambridge, MA (Invited) Joan Youngman, A Good Tax: Legal and Policy Issues for the Property Tax in the United States, The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, (Cambridge, MA: 2016), Preface, pp. ix-xi, and Chapters 1 and 2, pp. 1-34 (soon to be put on LATTE). The Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy, The ITEP Guide to Fair State and Local Taxes (Washington, DC: 2011), Chapter Four, pp. 25-34. . Rosen and Gayer, pp. 511-518. (9th ed., pp. 519-526.) Andrew Reschovsky, “The Long-Term Future of the Property Tax,” Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Economic Perspectives on State and Local Taxes, December 13, 2013. . *Ronald Fisher, State and Local Public Finance, 3rd ed., Chapter 14 (on LATTE). October 27 TOPIC 9 (continued) Further Discussion of the Property Tax, if Necessary Sales Tax and Excise Taxes The Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy, The ITEP Guide, Chapter 3, pp. 11-24. . Fisher, Chapter 15 (on LATTE). Michael Leachman and Michael Mazerov, “Four Steps to Moving State Sales Taxes Into the 21st Century,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, July 9, 2013. . *Robert Tannenwald, “Is the Sales Tax Becoming Obsolete?” Panel on the Future of State and Local Finance, Proceedings of State and Local Public Finance Amid Economic