Level: 200 level. Read more information on levels in our FAQs

Fees:  Please see Fees and payments

Lectures: 36 hours 

Classes: 18 hours

Assessment*: Two written examinations (each worth 50% of the final grade)

Typical credit**: 3-4 credits (US) 7.5 ECTS points (EU)

*Assessment is optional

**You will need to check with your home institution

For more information on exams and credit, read Teaching and assessment

Introductory microeconomics.

• Equity, efficiency and the role of the state
• Behavioural public economics
• Market failure and social insurance
• The pensions "crisis" and savings policy
• Reforming welfare systems
• The impact of tax incentives and welfare-to-work schemes on unemployment
• Tax incentives and investment, including cross-border investment
• Optimal taxation and tax evasion
• Globalisation and tax policy
• Climate change policy: taxes versus emissions trading
• Rethinking the scope of government

• Discuss critically key issues in public economics, informed by recent research
• Present a coherent argument orally and in writing on topics in public economics
• Demonstrate a familiarity with a range of policy issues and relevant analytical and empirical tools

The LSE Department of Economics is one of the biggest and best in the world, with expertise across the full spectrum of mainstream economics. A long-standing commitment to remaining at the cutting edge of developments in the field has ensured the lasting impact of its work on the discipline as a whole. Almost every major intellectual development within Economics over the past fifty years has had input from members of the department, which counts ten Nobel Prize winners among its current and former staff and students. Alumni are employed in a wide range of national and international organisations, in government, international institutions, business and finance.

The Department of Economics is a leading research department, consistently ranked in the top 20 economics departments worldwide. This is reflected in the 2014 Research Assessment Exercise which recognised the Department's outstanding contribution to the field. According to the REF 2014 results, 56 per cent of the Department’s research output was graded 4 star (the highest category), indicating that it is 'world-leading'. A further 33 per cent was designated 'internationally excellent' (3 star).

On this three week intensive programme, you will engage with and learn from full-time lecturers from the LSE’s economics faculty.

This course is not based on a single text. Students are, however, encouraged to purchase Jonathan Gruber (2011) Public Finance and Public Policy, 3^rdedition, Worth Publishers, which is used throughout the course, and perhaps also Nicholas Barr (2012) The Economics of the Welfare State, (5th ed.), Oxford University Press, to which frequent reference is made in parts 1 and 2.

Copies of Gruber and Barr are available in the Library Course Collection. The course readings also include journal articles and working papers, almost all of which can be accessed electronically. A course pack of key articles is provided.

*A more detailed reading list will be supplied prior to the start of the programme

**Course content, faculty and dates may be subject to change without prior notice