State and Local Public Finance

Issues in the provision and financing of public services by state and local governments. Provision of local public services, their adequacy, alternative models of local government decision making, optimal size of local governments, merits of the property tax, who really pays the property tax, alternative revenue sources, suburbs vs. central cities, metropolitan governance, the fiscal crisis of large cities, fiscal federalism, school finance reform, and the impact of tax and expenditure limitation. Prerequisite: Economics 11 and Economics 13 (or Economics 14), or equivalent.