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Domestic Policy Focus Field: Public Finance and Budgeting
The progressive income tax, unemployment compensation, and the Social Security System all had their roots in the work of University of Wisconsin faculty. This commitment to the development and analysis of public finance policies continues today at the La Follette School.
La Follette School faculty are conducting research on a wide range of topics related to public finance and budgeting. These include federal tax policy, Social Security reform, enhancing public sector efficiency, tax and expenditure equity, public program evaluation, intergovernmental fiscal relations, and education finance.
Students who choose to concentrate in public finance and budgeting devise a course plan that consists of La Follette School electives and related courses from other graduate departments. These courses are offered in several departments of the university, including Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics, Urban and Regional Planning, Consumer Science, Political Science, and the Business School.
Field coordinator: Andrew Reschovsky and Donald Moynihan
La Follette School faculty in this field
- Robert Haveman
- Karen Holden
- Melanie Manion
- Donald Moynihan
- Andrew Reschovsky
- David Weimer
- John Witte
- Barbara Wolfe
- Susan Webb Yackee
Electives from Other Departments
Students may take courses from other departments depending on their interests. Students should consult their advisors if they are unsure whether a course is appropriate for their focus field. These elective courses include:
BUS 365 Government Accounting
FIN 700 Introduction to Financial Management
ECON 441 Analytical Public Finance
ECON 449 Government and Natural Resources
ECON 741 Theory of Public Finance (Ph.D. level course)
ECON 742 Theory of Fiscal Policy (Ph.D. level course)
ELPA 830 Financing Elementary and Secondary Education
ELPA 960 Seminar in Education Finance
EPS 780 Topic Seminar: Economics of Education
LAW 742 Federal Income Taxation
URPL 734 Regional Economic Development
URPL 751 Introduction to Financial Planning
URPL 752 Capital Improvement Programming and Capital Budgeting
URPL 876 - Federalism and Intergovernmental Policy in the United States
Core Courses
PA 818 Quantitative Tools for Public Policy Analysis
PA 869 Workshop in Public Affairs, Domestic Issues
PA 873 Introduction to Policy Analysis
PA 874 The Policymaking Process
PA 878 Public Management
PA 880 Microeconomic Policy Analysis
PA 799 Professional Development Workshop
Public Affairs Electives for this Focus Field
PA 890 Federal Budget and Tax Policy and Administration
PA 891 State and Local Government Finance
PA 892 Public Budgeting
PA 895 Performance Management
Employment and Internships
- budget examiner and then bureau chief of budget services, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
- budget and policy analyst, Bureau of Management and Budget for the Water Division, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
- budget analyst, University of Wisconsin System, and the Wisconsin departments of Commerce and Revenue
- policy economist, Wisconsin Department of Revenue
- research staff, Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau
- analyst, U.S. Government Accountability Office
- budget and management director, Division of Management and Budget, City of Milwaukee
- senior tax manager, Virchow Krause & Co.
- deputy budget director, Philadelphia Public School District