http://www.merlot.org:80/merlot/ A search of MERLOT materials Copyright 1997-2013 MERLOT. All rights reserved. Thu, 20 Jun 2013 03:34:17 PDT Thu, 20 Jun 2013 03:34:17 PDT http://www.merlot.org:80/merlot/images/merlot.gif http://www.merlot.org:80/merlot/ 44 34 http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=620097 Public Finance rests at the intersection of two disciplines: Public Economics and Public Choice. Public Economics deals with issues of social optimality: how much of a good (or bad) does a society desire (or tolerate), and how do we incentivize producers and consumers to attain that amount? Public economics concerns itself with externalities, which are costs that are borne by persons not involved in a market transaction. There are both positive and negative externalities; public economists want to know how we get more of the good and less of the bad. Public choice is the field of economics that looks into the behavior of voters, politicians, and bureaucrats and studies how they choose given different policy institutions. This free course may be completed online at any time. See course site for detailed overview and learning outcomes. (Economics 305) http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=620192 This course explores the field of international political economy, teaching students the ways in which economics and politics influence each other when it comes to creating policy. Economic policy can be an important instrument of statecraft and diplomacy between countries, yet countries can also use economic policy to punish or express disapproval towards other countries using sanctions. In this course, the student will learn about the international organizations and regimes that are designed to facilitate international economic transactions and ensure economic stability, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The student will also review the impact that globalization has had on the world economy and the gap between rich and poor countries. This free course may be completed online at any time. See course site for detailed overview and learning outcomes. (Political Science 411) http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=555563 In analyzing fiscal issues, conventional public finance approaches focus mainly on taxation and public spending. Policymakers and practitioners rarely explore solutions by examining the fundamental problem: the failure of interested parties to act collectively to internalize the positive externalities generated by public goods. Public finance is merely one of many possible institutional arrangements for assigning the rights and responsibilities to public goods consumption. This system is currently under stress because of the financial crisis. The first part of the class will focus on collective action and its connection with local public finance. The second part will explore alternative institutional arrangements for mediating collective action problems associated with the provision of local public goods. The objective of the seminar is to broaden the discussion of local public finance by incorporating collective action problems into the discourse. This inclusion aims at exploring alternative institutional arrangements for financing local public services in the face of severe economic downturn. Applications of emerging ideas to the provision of public health, education, and natural resource conservation will be discussed. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=555686 In this class, food serves as both the subject and the object of historical analysis. As a subject, food has been transformed over the last 100 years, largely as a result of ever more elaborate scientific and technological innovations. From a need to preserve surplus foods for leaner times grew an elaborate array of techniques – drying, freezing, canning, salting, etc – that changed not only what people ate, but how far they could/had to travel, the space in which they lived, their relations with neighbors and relatives, and most of all, their place in the economic order of things. The role of capitalism in supporting and extending food preservation and development was fundamental. As an object, food offers us a way into cultural, political, economic, and techno-scientific history. Long ignored by historians of science and technology, food offers a rich source for exploring, e.g., the creation and maintenance of mass-production techniques, industrial farming initiatives, the politics of consumption, vertical integration of business firms, globalization, changing race and gender identities, labor movements, and so forth. How is food different in these contexts, from other sorts of industrial goods? What does the trip from farm to table tell us about American culture and history? http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=555747 This course examines the role of the public sector in the economy. The aim of the course is to provide an understanding of the reasons for government intervention in the economy, the extent of that intervention, and the response of private agents to the government's actions. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=555767 This course surveys research which incorporates psychological evidence into economics. Topics include: prospect theory, biases in probabilistic judgment, self-control and mental accounting with implications for consumption and savings, fairness, altruism, and public goods contributions, financial market anomalies and theories, impact of markets, learning, and incentives, and memory, attention, categorization, and the thinking process. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=555871 This course explores the proper role of government in the regulation of the environment. It will help students develop the tools to estimate the costs and benefits of environmental regulations. These tools will be used to evaluate a series of current policy questions, including: Should air and water pollution regulations be tightened or loosened? What are the costs of climate change in the U.S. and abroad? Is there a "Race to the Bottom" in environmental regulation? Students will help design and execute a cutting edge research project that tests whether air pollution causes infant mortality. To gain real world experience, the course will include a guest lecture from a former EPA plant inspector and is tentatively scheduled to include a visit to a local polluting plant. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=554961 In this course we examine the relationship between public policy and urban design through readings, discussions, presentations, and papers. We also analyze the ways in which policies shape cities, and investigate how governments implement urban design. Students gain a critical understanding of both the complex system of governance within which urban design occurs and the effective tools available for creative intervention. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=290402 Description of the role of governments in development. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=290419 Infrastructure development, planning & finance