API-101: Resources, Incentives, and Choices I: Markets and Market Failures

This course applies microeconomic reasoning to public policies. It considers economic incentives and organizations; models of economic behavior; the operation of markets; the price system and how it works; the consequences of market failure and interventions in markets; and policy objectives and instruments. It is the first course in the ‘Resources, Incentives, and Choices’ sequence, and provides the foundational frameworks required for the second course in the sequence, Economic Analysis of Public Policy (API-102).

Prerequisite: The Z section of this course presumes the ability to use basic calculus. API-101 is required for MPP students. May not be taken for credit if taken after API-109 or API-111. MPA students can enroll in API-101 only with the permission of the API-101 course head and if admitted will be assigned to a section by the MPP faculty chair.