Research and Course Guides: Econ 337: Economics of the Public Sector: Getting Started

Economics of the Public Sector

This is a guide for the Final Policy Project for Econ 337, Economics of the Public Sector. It provides links to good sources on public policy issues.

Use the tabs at the top to navigate to the different sections of the guide.

Image source: "Government-Vedder-Highsmith-detail-1" by Artist is Elihu Vedder (1836–1923). Photographed 2007 by Carol Highsmith (1946–). - Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

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Finding An Issue to Write About

These are great sources to search or browse to find public policy issues. Don't just paraphrase these sources to write your paper. Instead, use the articles here to get some background on the topic as a springboard to more in-depth research.

Issues & Controversies This link opens in a new window
Issues & Controversies explore more than 800 timely, in-depth, and objective articles on topics such as politics, government, business, education, and popular culture. It is updated weekly and provides links to a 13-year backfile. Also included are links to news coverage, pros and cons statements, timelines, statistics, etc.
Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints This link opens in a new window
A one-stop source for information on a variety of social issues. Access viewpoint articles, topic overviews, statistics, primary documents, links to websites, as well as full-text magazine and newspaper articles.
CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window
Original information on health care, criminal justice, political and social trends, international affairs, education, the environment, technology and the economy. Each report includes an overview; background and chronology on the topic; an assessment of the current situation; tables and maps; pro/con statements from representatives of opposing positions; and bibliographies of key sources.
CQ Electronic Library This link opens in a new window
Searches all CQ resources at once, including CQ Researcher + Archive, CQ Weekly, CQ Almanac, and Political Handbook of the World.

Palgraves

Palgrave's Dictionary of Economics Online

Need help choosing research topics?
Dying to calculate the price elasticity of demand?
Can't remember what heteroscedasticity means?
It's all here...

New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics Online This link opens in a new window
Palgraves is the premier subject encyclopedia for the field. You will find it useful for getting definitive explanations of economic concepts, browsing for research paper topic selection, and locating additional sources for further reading from the article bibliographies. Covers all aspects of the field, including micro and macroeconomics, economic history, econometrics, international, urban, financial, monetary, public, and theoretical economics.

Economics Encyclopedias

Background Information in Economics: Encyclopedias

Use these specialized topical sources to review concepts, in the early stages of research for topic selection, to find additional sources on a topic, etc.
Subject Encyclopedias for Economics

A Financial History of Modern U.S. Corporate Scandals from Enron to Reform
Includes an examination of the collapse of the Enron Corporation and other financial scandals that arose in the wake of the market downturn of 2000, examines the SEC's full disclosure system in corporate governance and the role of accountants in that system, chronicles numerous scandals, and covers the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
A Financial History of the United States (2002; print)
Vol. I: From Christopher Columbus to the Robber Barons (1492-1900)
Vol. II: From J.P. Morgan to the Institutional Investor (1900-1970)
Vol. III: From the Age of Derivatives into the New Millennium (1970-2001)
A Financial History of the United States: From Enron-Era Scandals to the Subprime Crisis (2004-2006); From the Subprime Crisis to the Great Recession (2006-2009)
An e-book published in 2011 providing a comprehensive treatment of U.S. financial system history during these periods.
more...less...
Table of Contents for the 2nd Volume:
FROM THE SUBPRIME CRISIS TO THE GREAT RECESSION (2006-2009)

Part III. The Growth of the Mortgage Market - 375
9. Securitization - 377
Government Sponsored Enterprises
Mortgage Market Growth
Subprime Lending

10. Prelude To a Crisis - 412
Panics and Bubbles
Run Up to the Real Estate Bubble
The First Cracks Appear
The New Year - 2007

Part IV. The Subprime Crisis - 471
11. The Crisis Begins - 473
A Crumbling Landscape

12. The Great Panic Begins - 524
The Financial Hurricane
More Failures
The Bailout

13. The Crisis Continues - 572
The Contagion Spreads
Dealing with Chaos
The Automakers Fail
The Madoff Fraud and Other Problems
Closing Out the Year

Part V. The Crisis Abates - 623
14. The Rise and Fall of the Subprime Crisis - 625
The New President
Executive Compensation
The Bottom is Reached
Sunrise in America
The Way to Recovery

15. Regulation, Reform, and the Subprime Crisis - 696
Government Housing Policy
Government Economic Policies
SEC Capital Requirements
Other Regulatory Failures
Regulatory Reform
Regulation Abroad
Corporate Governance Reform

Conclusion - 767
Notes - 769
Selected Bibliography - 777
Cumulative Name Index
Cumulative Subject Index
The Blackwell Companion to the Economics of Housing: The Housing Wealth of Nations
Explores issues including volatility of home prices and the implications of such ‘booms and busts’ for the wider economy; the puzzling link between housing wealth and consumption; innovations in mortgage markets including sub-prime and the crisis it precipitated; the changing face of housing risk; and the challenge of mitigation.
Companion to Economic Geography
Presents a comprehensive and accessible overview of major themes in the field, including the geographies of production, resources, societal interaction, and circulation of products, services, and information.
Companion to Urban Economics
An overview of this field, addressing urbanization, land use, housing & real estate, transportation, urban public economics, labor markets, and quality of life.
The Elgar Companion to Health Economics, Second Edition
Chapters on a wide variety of health care economic and market issues.
Encyclopedia of World Poverty
provides extensive insight into the contemporary debate on poverty. Contains over 800 original articles written by more than 125 authors.
Handbook of Economics & Ethics
Single-user e-book. Substantive articles on concepts and philosophers at the crossroads of economics and ethics.
Handbook of Financial Intermediation and Banking
Treatments of the major financial markets, competition, and regulation.
Handbook of International Trade, Vol. I
This volume explores theories, policies, & issues in the field of International Trade. The chapters focus on four important areas: factor proportions theory, trade policy, investment, and new trade theory. Covers such topics as the Heckscher-Ohlin Trade Model and the Stolper-Samuelson Price Link, wages, antidumping, etc.
Handbook of International Trade, vol. II
This 2nd volume focuses on the economic and legal analysis of international laws and institutions as they impact trade. Addresses central issues including labor, environmental rights, preferential trade agreements, antitrust policy, patent rights, antidumping, trade liberalization, and foreign direct investment.
International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences
Search a wide array of global topics in the social sciences.