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Public economics is viewed as the economic study of the public sector thereby making it a study of government policy through the lens of economic efficiency and equity. As a subject it encompasses a host of topics including market failures, externalities, structure and scope of government; taxation, subsidies and revenues; fiscal policies and behaviour of economic agents; publicly provided goods; national government expenditures and related policies; national budget, deficit and debt; state and local government; intergovernmental relations etc. It considers the role governments play in keeping markets stable and analyses the extent that government interference helps or hinders free-market activities. By focusing on analytical and scientific analysis, Public Economics provides us with a level-headed picture of the effects of these government interventions. Public economics builds on the theory of welfare economics and is ultimately used as a tool to improve social welfare.The main objectives of this course are to enable learners analyse fiscal functions, the theories on growth of public expenditures; to describe the concept of public goods and externalities and the free riding problem and market inefficiency associated with them and their remedies; to discuss the principles of taxation, taxable capacity and its measurement, to analyse deadweight loss of taxation and optimal taxation, to describe India’s tax structure, the issues and challenges and tax reforms it has undertaken; to discuss the techniques and principles of budgeting, deficits and their management, the Centre-State financial relations, finance commission and FRBM Act.
