FRS 002M — Sec. 001 — (2 units) — CRN 53092 — M 4:40 – 6:30 pm — 201 Wellman Hall
Economic Policy Today

Instructor: Steven Sheffrin, Department of Economics, Dean, Division of Social Science, College of Letters and Science

Description: This seminar will explore basic concepts in economic policy and apply them to topics including: aging, health policy, environmental policy, tax policy, education policy, and international economics.

Format: The seminar will meet for two hours each week for eight weeks. Students and instructor will discuss assigned portions of reading each week. Students will write short weekly essays on current policy issues and on the readings. Grading: The course grade will be based on class participation (50%) and the written assignments (50%). Readings will include initial background reading, chapters from Markets and Majorities by Steven M. Sheffrin, and articles available on the web.

About the Instructor: Steven M. Sheffrin is Dean, Division of Social Sciences and Professor of Economics at the University of California, Davis. He also serves as Director of the Center for State and Local Taxation at U.C. Davis. He has been a visiting professor at the London School of Economics, Oxford University, and Princeton University and has worked as an economist in the Office of Tax Analysis of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. His work in macroeconomics and tax policy has been widely published. Sheffrin holds a B.A. from the College of Social Studies, Wesleyan University, and a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.