Governing the European Economy: Between Market and State

Full course description

The course is an introduction to the roles of the state in economic relations. The students will learn how markets function, and what do public authorities do in order to ensure fair competition and the regulation of negative and positive externalities (such as environmental pollution or public health via vaccines). The course will furthermore serve as basic introduction to public choice models discussing why/how states levy taxes and redistribute income. Last but not least, the course will lay the foundations of International Political Economy exploring topics such as international trade, geo-economics and the economic rationale behind international/European economic integration.