90-788 Financing the Public Good
6 units, Carnegie Mellon University
From the earliest days of the republic to the present, government at all levels federal, state and local has invested in the physical and social infrastructure that underpins our now advanced and sophisticated economy. The resulting fiscal relationships have been controversial, with Washington spending trillions in grants and other assistance, but with conditions, or strings that state and local governments often find onerous and intrusive. Furthermore, federal budget deficits are now forcing political leaders in Washington to find ways to curtail spending, with many assistance programs potentially on the chopping block and states left to enforce federal standards with less money. This seminar examines the decisions political leaders at all levels of government must make to pay for the public good. Should highways, for example, be funded by users through tolls, by vehicle owners through a gasoline tax or by all taxpayers who benefit from highways even if they do not drive Should the federal government be forcing states to implement federal standards, like raising the drinking age as a condition for receiving federal highway funds How will such developing technologies and behaviors as electric vehicles and ride sharing change the economics and politics of funding our transportation infrastructure How can the federal government balance the budget without shortchanging vital national priorities and shortchanging statelocal programs they formerly help to fund The seminar will focus on the tough choices policymakers face over funding sources and spending at all levels of government through case studies that illustrate the issues. Students will develop case studies and briefing papers, and will lead class discussions that explore how federal, state and local interests can align or collide depending on the issue.
Prerequisites: none listed
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