Faculty Contact Information:
Instructor: Gordon Leitch
Mailing Address: UMUC, Unit 29216 APO AE 09102
Email: gleitch@faculty.ed.umuc.edu
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Consultation:
Consultation: via email or by appointment.
1/2 November, 15/16 November, 6/7 December, 20/21 December 2003. London UK.
Syllabus available from
http://www.ed.umuc.edu/graduate/current_syllabi/index.html
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Required Texts and Readings:
Text used exclusively for this course--
Hyman, D.N. 2002. Public Finance: A Contemporary Application of Theory to Policy (7th ed.). Fort Worth: Dryden Press.
Text used in multiple courses--
American Pyschological Association. Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington D.C.: Author.
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Supplementary Readings:
As listed in URLs in handouts during the course.
Each instructor has his or her preferences for supplementary reading material that may be added here. In addition, all graduate students should be prepared to utilize the UMUC online library at http://www.umuc.edu/library/. The library contains a large number of full text academic journals that are free of charge and immediately available. The library homepage also contains a number of links related to improving students' research and writing skills.
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Recommended Journals:
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Course Description:
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Prerequisites: ECON 201 Principles of Economics-Macro and ECON 203 Principles of Economics-Micro, or ECON 505, or equivalent, and undergraduate American political science or American government, or permission of the Program Director. An analysis of the elements, structure, functions, and processes of public finance. This course covers theory and practice of the allocation, distribution, and stabilization roles of the government at national, state, and local levels.
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Course Goals:
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Upon completion of the course, participants should have an understanding of:
The rationale for the economic activity of the government in a capitalistic economy
The use of visual and mathematical economic analysis
The structure, sources, functions, and trends of U.S. public funds
The role of government in resource allocation, distribution, and stabilization policies
Economic policy options in a capitalistic economy
The specific structure of the U.S. personal and corporate income tax structure
The nature of the federal deficit and debt
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Course Objectives:
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At the conclusion of this course the student will be able to:
Analyze how a market system operates with government influence
Evaluate issues of market failure such as externalities and public goods
Critique government policies that effect the market economy
Develop a feeling for the complex nature of the business/government environment
Utilize government-provided data to evaluate economic performance
Prepare a written project to discuss some aspect of the public sector
Provide an oral presentation covering the written project information
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Grading Information:
Grades for this course will be assigned as follows:
A 92%
B 80 – 91%
C 70 – 79%
F Below 70%
Please note that Bowie State University does not use "D" for graduate students. The grade F(a) is used to designate academic failure. F(n) is used to designate failure for non-completion. Grades of Incomplete or Withdrawal are governed by UMUC-Europe policies. For further details, please refer to the UMUC-Europe Graduate Catalog, available online at http://www.ed.umuc.edu/general_info/publications/catalogs or in your local Education Center.
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Course Requirements:
Graduate school at the masters level focuses on helping students obtain the education needed for success as professionals in their chosen fields. Thus, UMUC-Europe Graduate Programs and Bowie State University share the common goals of promoting excellence in academic scholarship through thoughtful inquiry and the skillful application of knowledge and theory for the betterment of society. In order to maximize your graduate educational experience in general and this course in particular, you are required to:
Participate in Class Discussions, complete textbook problems 25%
Write Graduate Level Term Paper 25%
Midterm Examination 25%
Final Examination 25%
Note that merely cutting & pasting selected quotations and paragraphs is INSUFFICIENT for the term paper. It should include appropriate citations (footnotes or endnotes, and bibliography) and your own commentary and interpretation regarding the topic.
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Description of Course Requirements:
Participate in classroom discussions: You are expected to come to class prepared to engage in all discussions in a professional and informed manner. Usually this requires two to three hours of additional for every hour of a face-to-face class and approximately ten hours of preparation per week for a DE class.
Write graduate level papers or case studies: You are required to conduct professional-level research, including appropriately citing works of others and avoiding plagiarism. Plan on committing approximately 150 hours over the duration of this course to producing professional level deliverables.
Complete one or more written examination(s): The examination process in this class will assist you in developing the writing and critical thinking skills necessary to successfully passing the comprehensive exam required of all graduate students. The questions used for this course will either be taken directly from past comprehensive exams or written as though to be included on a comprehensive exam.
Term Paper Description: This requires a report integrating material from the various chapters, as well as skills & knowledge acquired in other grad classes and through experience.
Here are 2 suggested term report topics, though others are possible, if cleared with the instructor:
1. In his Wealth of Nations (1776) Adam Smith described 4 traits of a bad tax system:
a. it requires a large and expensive bureaucracy to administer it
b. it discourages investment, production, and jobs
c. it encourages evasion
d. it burdens people with intrusive examinations by the tax-collecting agency
How does the current tax system in the US rank under Smith's criteria compared to having a value-added tax system (or other consumption-based tax) in its place? Note: in order to answer this topic properly, you will have to find out what % rate(s) some researchers have suggested for a VAT (or other consumption-based tax) to replace the income tax.
2. Examine pages 12 and 515 in the text, and the inside front cover graph. Obtain additional information from the Economic Report of the President or the Commerce Department for
federal government revenues and expenditures for 1980-1990. Also gather info about the highest and lowest tax rates (income tax, social security tax) across this period, and the time of the major revisions to the tax code (for a more complete picture, also look at the tax collections & spending information in terms of dollar amounts, and as % of US GDP). Organize this information graphically and discuss the text's p. 515 assertions in relation to the info from these other sources: What (if any) is the connection among tax % rates, taxes collected, and the amount of federal spending 1980-1990?
The report should be no more than 10 "typed" double-spaced pages long (of which part 1 should take up no more than 4), plus any graphs & charts, citations and a bibliography (following the APA style manual).
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Course Schedule:
Weekend 1 (1st day: modules 1, 2, 3. 2nd day: modules 4, 5 )
Weekend 2 (1st day: modules 6, 7. 2nd day: module 8 )
Weekend 3 (1st day: modules 9, 10. 2nd day: modules 11, 12 )
Weekend 4 (1st day: modules 13, 14. 2nd day: modules 15, 16 )
Module 1 chapter 1, chapter 2
Module 2 chapter 3
Module 3 chapter 4
Module 4 chapter 5
Module 5 chapter 6
Module 6 chapter 7
Module 7 chapter 8, chapter 9
Module 8 Midterm exam.
Module 9 chapter 10, chapter 11
Module 10 chapter 12
Module 11 chapter 13
Module 12 chapter 14
Module 13 chapter 15
Module 14 chapter 16
Module 15 chapter 17, chapter 18
Module 16 Final exam. Term papers due.
Review Questions (Q) & Problems (P) intended for coverage:
Chapter, page, Q, P
1 27 3, 5, 6, 9 2 - 4; optional: review pages 30-48
2 72 3, 6 1, 2a b; optional: pages 76-92
3 130 3, 6, 8 1, 3a b, 4
4 161 (1 or 8), 5, 7 1 (hint: are MC & AC still the same?), 2
5 205 4, 7 2
6 237 1, 5, 6 1, 3, 4
7 284 1, 2, 6, 8, 9, 10 1
8 326 1, 3, 6, 8, 10 1, (2 or 3)
9 371 1, 4, 6, 9 2, 3
10 406 1, 2, 3, 7, 9 1, 2a b c, 3a b
11 442 1, 2, 3 (note: this is a lump sum tax on income,
not a lump sum tax in a particular market)
1, 4. (as a bonus, try #3) optional: pages 446-452.
12 484 4&6, 5, 10 1, 3
13 517 1&2, 3, 6, 7--last sentence only.
1, 2, 3.
14 555 1, 2, 3, 4, 8 2, 3
15 581 1, 5, 6 2
16 610 2, 10, 4&5 (think about capital gains)
3, 4
17 643 1, 9 2, 3
18 679 1, 6, 7 1, 2, 3, 4
Grading: try as many of the Problems as you can. They are graded on a 0.5 = 50% (worst) to 1 = 100% (best) scale. Questions & Problems with no response receive a 0%. You don't have to do all of these, but that "0" will be included in the average. Example: suppose there are 5 questions & 4 are answered with scores of 1, 0.9, 0.8, 1. The combined score for that group is then 3.7/5 = 74%
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Academic Policies:
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Please refer to the UMUC-Europe Graduate Catalog for information on the following:
Academic Integrity
Course Load
Exception to Policy
Grade Appeal Process
Make-up Examinations
Nondiscrimination
Students with DisabilitiesHard copies of the catalog are available in your local Education Center.
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Faculty Bio:
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Gordon Leitch. I received my M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from Tulane University. An extract from my dissertation "Profitability and the Evaluation of Economic Forecasts" was published in American Economic Review. Prior to joining the European Division in 1996 I taught at UMUC's program at Far Eastern State University in Vladivostok, Russia. I have also taught economics, finance, management and statistics courses at Tulane University, Southeastern Louisiana University, Loyola University (New Orleans), and the University of Portland.
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