90-731 Public Budgeting and Finance
6 units, Carnegie Mellon University
In simple terms, budgets are plans covering income and spending. But they are much more than that. Budgets are a statement of priorities for a government or organization and indicate expectations about the future financial situation of those entities. Budget documents and websites are also repositories of large amounts of data that can be used for analysis. In addition, they provide an indication about the success or failure of policies and programs. Knowing how to construct and interpret such information will contribute to the success of future public and leaders. Being able to find such information and explain it to others is a very useful skill This class will cover the terminology, components, practices, documents, and methods of public budgeting and finance at various levels of government. It will also place an emphasis on policy analysisthinking through the available data, drawing conclusions, and communicating that information to a nontechnical audience. To illustrate the concepts in the course, there will be a heavy focus on fiscal policy in the United States. Previous knowledge of U.S. institutions will be helpful, but not a requirement.
Prerequisites: 91-804 (min C) or 90-723 (min C)
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