ECON 3490 — Public Choice Economics
4 semester hoursUndergraduateLectureNUpath SIusually offered: springtypical days: WBostonTraditional
Studies public choice economics—the scientific analysis of government behavior—and is divided into two parts: institutional political economy and social choice theory. Public choice economics applies this neoclassical economic analysis to political issues such as rent seeking, tax reform, logrolling, voting behavior, the function of government, the intersection between public and private interests, and federalism. The point of departure from political science is that economists have based this analysis on the assumption that utility functions do not change once a person enters the realm of public service and that the argument of their utility functions is still their own self-interest and not the interest of the social system in which they operate.
Prerequisites
Offering history
| Term | Sections | Enrolled | Capacity | Full | Open seats/section |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring 2024 | 1 | 46 | 47 | 98% | 1.0 |
| Spring 2025 | 1 | 45 | 45 | 100% | 0.0 |
| Spring 2026 | 1 | 42 | 43 | 98% | 1.0 |
Snapshots from scheduled scrapes — not live seat availability. "Full" can exceed 100% when sections over-enroll.
Meeting times
Share of recent sections by weekday: M 0% · T 0% · W 68% · Th 32% · F 0%
Common patterns: W (68% of sections), R (32% of sections) — in patterns, R means Thursday
Professors
Spring
- Francis Georges (100% of students) · reviews
Percentages are each professor's average share of the season's enrolled students in recent terms.
Links
Official catalog (ECON course descriptions) · Student reviews on RateMyHusky · All ECON courses · Plan it at numap.app