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The Economic Approach to Public Policy
Selected Readings
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Edited by:
Ryan Amacher
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2019
About this book
Can traditional economic theory help to solve today's vexing social problems? This unique collection of thirty-six papers strongly suggests that it can. The economic approach is applied imaginatively by the authors to a wide range of contemporary issues, such as crime, higher education, the environment, revenue sharing, equity, justice, and the distribution of income. The articles also deal with governmental behavior and the role of the economist as governmental adviser.
Shaped during the preparation and teaching of college classes, the book is well suited for courses in principles of economics, microeconomics, price theory, and public policy development and analysis. It should also prove a useful reference work for policy makers.
Author / Editor information
Ryan Amacher is Associate Professor of Economics at Arizona State University. Robert D. Tollison is Professor and Chairman, Department of Economics, at Texas A. & M. University. Thomas D. Willett is Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research, United States Treasury.
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Frontmatter
1 -
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Preface
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List of Contributors
11 -
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Introduction
15 - Part I: Perspectives on the Usefulness of Economics as a Guide for Social Policy
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1. The Economic Approach to Social Policy Questions: Some Methodological Perspectives
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2. Consensus and Controversy in Political Economy
37 -
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3. On the Limited "Relevance" of Economics
54 -
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4. Science and Ideology in Economics
67 -
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5. Dissent in Economics: The Convergence of Extremes
79 - Part II: Application of Economic Thinking to Some Particular Social Problems
- A. Crime and Punishment
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7. An Economic Approach to Crime
109 -
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8. Equity versus Efficiency in Law Enforcement
124 - B. Higher Education and the Dissemination of Information
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9. Resources for Higher Education: An Economist's View
132 -
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10. The University and the Price System
153 - C. The Environment
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11. Economists on the Doomsday Models: A Review of The Limits to Growth, by Donella H. Meadows et al, and \Norid Dynamics and Urban Dynamics, by Jay W. Forrester
166 -
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12. Population and Environmental Quality
173 -
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13. The Economics of Fatal Mistakes: Fiscal Mechanisms for Preserving Endangered Predators
187 - D. Revenue Sharing and the Drawing of Political Boundary Lines
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14. Federalism: Problems of Scale
213 -
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15. Revenue Sharing: Alternative to Rational Fiscal Federalism?
225 - Part III: Economists on Equity, Justice, and the Distribution of Income
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16. A Menu of Distributional Considerations
245 -
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17. On Limiting the Domain of Inequality
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18. Director's Law of Public Income Redistribution
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19. Two Concepts of Equity and Their Implications for Public Policy
300 -
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20. The Utilitarian Contract: A Generalization of Rawls' Theory of Justice
313 - Part IV: Economists on Governmental and Political Failure
- A. Deviation from the Ideal in Governmental Behavior
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21. Toward Analysis of Closed Behavioral Systems
335 -
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22. The Peculiar Economics of Bureaucracy
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23. Divergences between Individual and Total Costs Within Government
362 - B. Problems of Informed Voting
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24. A Program for Direct and Proxy Voting in the Legislative Process
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25. On Homo Politicus and the Instant Referendum
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26. Representative Democracy via Random Selection
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27. Some Simple Economics of Voting and Not Voting
393 - C. Are There Systematic Biases in Government Budget Size?
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28. Risk Avoidance and Political Advertising: Neglected Issues in the Literature on Budget Size in a Democracy
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29. Attitudes toward Risk and the Relative Size of the Public Sector
434 - D. Rationalizing our Political Decision-making
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30. Solving the Intensity Problem in Representative Democracy
444 - Part V: Economics and Economists in the Policy Process
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31. The Economist and Presidential Leadership
475 -
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32. Reflections on Political Economy
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33. The American Council of Economic Advisers and the German Sachverstaendigenrat: A Study in the Economics of Advice
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34. Muddling Through: An Alternative View of the Decision Process
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35. A Modest Proposal
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36. A Defense of the CEA as an Instrument for Giving Economic Policy Advice
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Index of Names
524
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
November 18, 2019
eBook ISBN:
9781501741012
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Main content:
528
eBook ISBN:
9781501741012
Audience(s) for this book
For a non-specialist adult audience
