Introduction to Economics for Public Managers

The goal of this course is to provide a graduate-level introduction to some key principles of microeconomics. Many of the economic decisions are made in our society through markets and it is therefore important for those that design and implement public policy to have an understanding of how markets operate.  Particular emphasis is placed on developing the analytic tools of economic reasoning and using these tools to examine policy interventions of interest to public managers. As such, this course is divided into three sections. First, we begin by developing a basic understanding of how a perfectly competitive market allocates good and services in society. Next, we explore the ways in which this “ideal” model can break down, necessitating government intervention in markets. Specifically, such topics as equity and efficiency, monopolies, externalities, public goods, and asymmetric information are discussed in detail. In the final section of the course, we turn our attention to the “tools” of public action that are used to correct market failures.