Public Finance and Public Policy

I bought a copy of the text for an Economic Public Finance course requiring the use of the 3rd edition to cut back on costs. When I compared this text to the 3rd edition, there were only a few differences that I noticed-- Discussion questions had a few differences (Re-arranged, numbers changed slightly, ect)- Charts and figures in the 3rd edition had more recent information (especially relevant in chapters 21-25)- Chapter on Social Security had another (small) section in it.If you need this textbook for a class but do not need the discussion questions, I would recommend this textbook over the newer one. There is virtually no difference between the two. If you need the updated charts and graphs from the newer edition, most of them are available in the PowerPoint presentations on the publisher's website.

I purchased this book for my Public Economics Class and the professor uses this book as a supplement to his lectures. I think this book does a good job in explaining the concepts. I did find a few errors in the book though.The book came in great condition and quickly!

Fair enough!

I found this book through MIT's Open Courseware, it is an excellent read if you like the textbook style. The author does not seem to be bent on pushing one economic approach and explains the topics in a common sense manner.

Needed book for school, not entertainment

Great quality. The book seemed brand new. It was clean, all pages where there. No writing or anything on the pages. No tears or wears!

I am a student at the University of Michigan. And having studied this book for our public finance class, I would say that the author can actually trim the book to 40% of its current length. If you are good at math, thinks rationally, and have some common sense of how the world works or should work then you can reach the same conclusions without reading the book.A lot of the material is simply common sense. It talks about what the best public policy is for governments, why there is corruption, best form of education management...etc. However, if you find a smart friend and have a rigorous debate with him/her about government (like what most college students do nowadays) you can easily come to the same conclusion. Then put what you come up with into a very succinct math equation and you would have learned the entire material on your own.Seriously, as an aspiring Micro theorist/Financial economist, this stuff is a joke. The book actually devotes four pages to a discussion of what corruption is and how it works in the government. Prof. Gruber could seriously shorten that to a page in succinct form. The student's opportunity costs should be considered!The problem with this book is that it assumes that 1. you have no common sense. 2. you are horrendous at math, and thus irrational. 3. Long, run-on sentences will not bore you to sleep.Go study micro and macro theory, have a solid understanding of it, read the news regularly, think, and this material will come to you naturally. The book is only good for mentioning important research papers and names which will aid the student in his thought. Beyond that, it is largely useless. Anyone can find the statistical content on their own.