Public Choice - Econ 410
Public Choice Syllabus
Public Choice Powerpoints
Pathologies of Democracy
- an introduction to rational ignorance, rational irrationality,
political myopia and bureaucracy.
The Rise
and Decline of Nations, Ch.3 - implications of the logic of
collective action for interest groups and democracy.
The Rise
and Decline of Nations, Ch. 4 - The Developed Democracies Since
World War II.
Famine,
Corruption, the Media and Democracy - why is there mass
starvation? Why does mass starvation not occur in
democracies? What is the role of the media. What does the
importance of the media tell us about corruption, government control of
the media and government education?
Corruption - measuring corruption in the
United State and abroad, correlates of corruption, types of corruption
(monopoly versus competitive, parallel versus serial) and implications
of corruption for the structure of society.
The Big
Questions about Development - from Guns, Germs and Steel to the
role of institutions and the question of where institutions come from.
The Calculus of Consent ch5 - First
steps to designing a constitution. What is the role of
government? Buck v. Bell and the theory of externalities.
The Calculus of Consent ch6 - The
beginnings of constitutional economics.
Federalism - the optimum size and shape of
governments. The matching rule, Tiebout competition, market
preserving federalism, spillovers, exit and voice, federalism and
crime.
Public Finance vs. Public
Choice - a tax constituion for leviathan.