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Difference between Economic Policy & Public Economics?


dogbones

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Hi there, I was wondering if some people could distinguish between several very similar sounding subfields within Economics? They are:

 

- Economic policy

- Public economics

- Political economics

- Public policy

 

I've seen all of them used as areas of specialization for economists working in academia. The nuances I'm supposing are palpable and distinct, but I'm not quite positive.

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There are only two sub-fields of economics on your list. Public Economics and Political Economy.

 

Public economics is the field of economics that studies government's role in the economy. As an example, what are the welfare effects of taxes, subsidies, and economic legislation?

 

Political economy is the study of the interaction between the economy and legal and social institutions. As an example, does democracy affect the economy and/or does economic inequality affect democracy?

 

Economic policy, to me, is the set of policy prescriptions that comes from economic research (Research shows X is associated with Y, if you like Y policy should do more X). It is something that can be an outcome of any field - labor, health, and so on. Public Policy is more of an art, it's the process of how ideas (such as, but not limited to economic policy suggestions) actually become policy. Degree programs in public policy study that process from both theoretical and practical viewpoints.

 

HTH

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tm_member: I really appreciate your feedback on this clarification! Now I have a solid understanding of both economic policy and public policy. The distinction between public economics and political economy is still a little hazy. If I wanted to write a paper about whether a certain state in the US should expand their rail transport route and I studied that with econometrics, would that be neither public economics nor political economy?
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tm_member: I really appreciate your feedback on this clarification! Now I have a solid understanding of both economic policy and public policy. The distinction between public economics and political economy is still a little hazy. If I wanted to write a paper about whether a certain state in the US should expand their rail transport route and I studied that with econometrics, would that be neither public economics nor political economy?

It would not be political economy. It might be public, or in some places it might be transportation economics or urban economics.

 

Political economy might arise in a study of why some states expanded rail and others didn't.

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startz: Now I'm thinking that urban economics is more my cup of tea than political economy or public economics. Paul Krugman does urban economics too doesn't he?

I don't think he does it anymore, but he did. He has a very readable book Geography and Trade.

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tm_member: I really appreciate your feedback on this clarification! Now I have a solid understanding of both economic policy and public policy. The distinction between public economics and political economy is still a little hazy. If I wanted to write a paper about whether a certain state in the US should expand their rail transport route and I studied that with econometrics, would that be neither public economics nor political economy?

 

If you want to write speculative policy proposal pieces, do an MPP and work in government.

 

PhDs in Economics teach historiographical research methods - "when some state did (or did not) expand their rail network, what happened to X, Y, or Z?" If X is a health outcome, then it's a health paper. If Y is wages, then it's a labor paper. If Z is house prices, it's an urban/regional paper, and so on. Few outlets in economics will publish the kind of paper you described. That kind of work is more suited to a government report.

 

Political economy would be the study of how social and political institutions affected the ability of political and private actors to expand the rail network. For example, "Do state constitutions constrain transportation investment via debt rules?"

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tm_member: So you're saying that political economy is always positive and never normative? Are there any subfields in Economics where I can make analyses like the ideal amount of something that benefits society? How about Econometrics where I use math?
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tm_member: So you're saying that political economy is always positive and never normative? Are there any subfields in Economics where I can make analyses like the ideal amount of something that benefits society? How about Econometrics where I use math?

dogbones: Most subfields of economics make analyses about what's ideal. And almost all areas of economics use math. Econometrics is widely used across many areas.

 

Your questions come across as being from someone with a keen interest in the subject but no idea of what the serious study of economics is about. That's not a criticism as were all there at some point, but you might get more helpful answers if you explained about your background and told us where you are trying to get to.

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tm_member: So you're saying that political economy is always positive and never normative? Are there any subfields in Economics where I can make analyses like the ideal amount of something that benefits society? How about Econometrics where I use math?

 

It's not just political economy. Go back to your intro micro textbook - you'll see in the first chapter that the entire academic discipline of economics is described as being focused wholly on positive research. Those with Nobel prizes are given a pass to indulge in some normative commentary now and then. That's about it.

 

Your goals are not suited to an Econ PhD. It will not train you to do the kind of work you value.

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startz: I did write an entire post about my background, but it was pending review by the moderator and never got posted so I'll just give a nice snapshot here...

 

Undergraduate was BA in Psychology (GPA: 3.52) in 2010 & BA in Economics (GPA: 3.49) in 2013, both from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. I was an unsuccessful pre-med major for a while so my cumulative undergraduate GPA was 3.22/4.00. I should point out that psychological factors were at play, as I got straight 4.00 grades for my first seven Psychology classes and then motivation dropped as I started Economics courses which dropped my Psychology grades to Bs and even a C in Neurobiology (which was all biochemistry by the way). I got mostly As in Economics too, but certain courses were flops with Bs, I may have even had a C too. Math wasn't stellar either, highest grade I got in math was a B+ in Calculus III (great professor). I did manage to get a B- in a Linear Algebra/Differential Equations class where the mode was a D though, and the only people that got As were engineering majors who already knew the material. Lol. Since my main goal is to go to the best PhD program I can get into (dreaming of Harvard and MIT), I know I need to take a Master's degree in Economics. Lucky for me, UH Manoa is changing their Master's program to suit schedules for people who have jobs, meaning Friday evening and all day Saturday classes. I thought this would allow me to take a math course during each of the four semesters, and I plan to take three math courses next summer (Calculus IV, Linear Alg/Diff Eq, Intro to Advanced Math). That'll give me seven extra math classes with a chance to prove my understanding of math, in addition to the MA degree. My goal is to get as close to a 4.0 GPA as possible, and to best prepare for this, I'm studying math on weekends and some evenings since a few months ago. As I clear more math topics, I'm moving into econ prep as well since that'll be very important also. Btw, after getting a top class education for the PhD program, my career interest is to teach econ as a professor at UH Manoa, since I enjoy living in Hawaii and I have many friends here. I really love the opportunity I'd have to do research as an academic, and having summers off to travel would be great too. The salary for professors are also good, even in a public university in Hawaii. I know that getting into Harvard and MIT are going to take more than a stellar MA degree and math courses, so I have summer internship ideas lined up too, with top picks being either Economic Analyst at the CIA or Research Assistant at the Federal Reserve. I'm beefing up my analysis skills to prepare to apply for the CIA, like R programming, econometrics, and general international knowledge as a place to start. And a summer internship at a place like that is great, but probably won't tip the scale either, so I'm also interested in getting an online MBA from Hawaii Pacific University, which has a very flexible curriculum and I think I could spend two full days each week to tackle two courses per 8-week session. Now with two simultaneous Master's degrees with top GPAs and a summer internship, I think I'd be getting closer to my dream schools. But I also want to have research experience and publications under my belt, so I plan to help faculty with research the whole time I'm working on my MA in Econ, and also have them help me write 2-3 papers of my own that I'm hoping will get published. (Of which one idea was the rail transport route proposal I had mentioned earlier here.) I'm not terribly sure what more I could do, but I'm working ahead to give it my best shot. Thank you for reading about my background, I appreciate it!

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startz: I did write an entire post about my background, but it was pending review by the moderator and never got posted so I'll just give a nice snapshot here...

 

Undergraduate was BA in Psychology (GPA: 3.52) in 2010 & BA in Economics (GPA: 3.49) in 2013, both from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. I was an unsuccessful pre-med major for a while so my cumulative undergraduate GPA was 3.22/4.00. I should point out that psychological factors were at play, as I got straight 4.00 grades for my first seven Psychology classes and then motivation dropped as I started Economics courses which dropped my Psychology grades to Bs and even a C in Neurobiology (which was all biochemistry by the way). I got mostly As in Economics too, but certain courses were flops with Bs, I may have even had a C too. Math wasn't stellar either, highest grade I got in math was a B+ in Calculus III (great professor). I did manage to get a B- in a Linear Algebra/Differential Equations class where the mode was a D though, and the only people that got As were engineering majors who already knew the material. Lol. Since my main goal is to go to the best PhD program I can get into (dreaming of Harvard and MIT), I know I need to take a Master's degree in Economics. Lucky for me, UH Manoa is changing their Master's program to suit schedules for people who have jobs, meaning Friday evening and all day Saturday classes. I thought this would allow me to take a math course during each of the four semesters, and I plan to take three math courses next summer (Calculus IV, Linear Alg/Diff Eq, Intro to Advanced Math). That'll give me seven extra math classes with a chance to prove my understanding of math, in addition to the MA degree. My goal is to get as close to a 4.0 GPA as possible, and to best prepare for this, I'm studying math on weekends and some evenings since a few months ago. As I clear more math topics, I'm moving into econ prep as well since that'll be very important also. Btw, after getting a top class education for the PhD program, my career interest is to teach econ as a professor at UH Manoa, since I enjoy living in Hawaii and I have many friends here. I really love the opportunity I'd have to do research as an academic, and having summers off to travel would be great too. The salary for professors are also good, even in a public university in Hawaii. I know that getting into Harvard and MIT are going to take more than a stellar MA degree and math courses, so I have summer internship ideas lined up too, with top picks being either Economic Analyst at the CIA or Research Assistant at the Federal Reserve. I'm beefing up my analysis skills to prepare to apply for the CIA, like R programming, econometrics, and general international knowledge as a place to start. And a summer internship at a place like that is great, but probably won't tip the scale either, so I'm also interested in getting an online MBA from Hawaii Pacific University, which has a very flexible curriculum and I think I could spend two full days each week to tackle two courses per 8-week session. Now with two simultaneous Master's degrees with top GPAs and a summer internship, I think I'd be getting closer to my dream schools. But I also want to have research experience and publications under my belt, so I plan to help faculty with research the whole time I'm working on my MA in Econ, and also have them help me write 2-3 papers of my own that I'm hoping will get published. (Of which one idea was the rail transport route proposal I had mentioned earlier here.) I'm not terribly sure what more I could do, but I'm working ahead to give it my best shot. Thank you for reading about my background, I appreciate it! ;)

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(1/7) Undergraduate was BA in Psychology (GPA: 3.52) in 2010 & BA in Economics (GPA: 3.49) in 2013, both from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. I was an unsuccessful pre-med major for a while so my cumulative undergraduate GPA was 3.22/4.00. I should point out that psychological factors were at play, as I got straight 4.00 grades for my first seven Psychology classes and then motivation dropped as I started Economics courses which dropped my Psychology grades to Bs and even a C in Neurobiology (which was all biochemistry by the way).
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(2/7) I got mostly As in Economics too, but certain courses were flops with Bs, I may have even had a C too. Math wasn't stellar either, highest grade I got in math was a B+ in Calculus III (great professor). I did manage to get a B- in a Linear Algebra/Differential Equations class where the mode was a D though, and the only people that got As were engineering majors who already knew the material. Lol.
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(3/7) Since my main goal is to go to the best PhD program I can get into (dreaming of Harvard and MIT), I know I need to take a Master's degree in Economics. Lucky for me, UH Manoa is changing their Master's program to suit schedules for people who have jobs, meaning Friday evening and all day Saturday classes. I thought this would allow me to take a math course during each of the four semesters, and I plan to take three math courses next summer (Calculus IV, Linear Alg/Diff Eq, Intro to Advanced Math).
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(3/7) Since my main goal is to go to the best PhD program I can get into (dreaming of Harvard and MIT), I know I need to take a Master's degree in Economics. Lucky for me, UH Manoa is changing their Master's program to suit schedules for people who have jobs, meaning Friday evening and all day Saturday classes. I thought this would allow me to take a math course during each of the four semesters, and I plan to take three math courses next summer (Calculus IV, Linear Alg/Diff Eq, Intro to Advanced Math)...
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Since my main goal is to go to the best PhD program I can get into (dreaming of Harvard and MIT), I know I need to take a Master's degree in Economics. Lucky for me, UH Manoa is changing their Master's program to suit schedules for people who have jobs, meaning Friday evening and all day Saturday classes. I thought this would allow me to take a math course during each of the four semesters, and I plan to take three math courses next summer (Calculus IV, Linear Alg/Diff Eq, Intro to Advanced Math).
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(3/7) Since my main goal is to go to the best PhD program I can get into (dreaming of Harvard and MIT), I know I need to take a Master's degree in Economics. Lucky for me, UH Manoa is changing their Master's program to suit schedules for people who have jobs, meaning Friday evening and all day Saturday classes. I thought this would allow me to take a math course during each of the four semesters, and I plan to take three math courses next summer (Calculus IV, Linear Alg/Diff Eq, Intro to Advanced Math).
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dogbones:

 

This is exactly the kind of background material that will help people give you good advice. Here are a few initial thoughts.

 

 

  1. Go talk to whatever faculty members you know best in Hawaii. They'll know you better than anonymous people on the internet.
  2. Look at where the folks in Hawaii got their PhDs. That will give you an idea of which rank schools they hire from.
  3. If you want to do the master's route in Hawaii, consider the Master's Degree on the Doctoral Track.
  4. Before you sign up for a master's program, ask to see a list of which PhD programs students have gone on to.
  5. Your grades are not competitive for good PhD programs, as you understand.
  6. Your record does not look like one that is anywhere near what Harvard or MIT want. I don't think that your record is repairable with a master's from Hawaii.
  7. Basically, you will need letters of recommendation that say "dogbones is one of the best students I have ever seen."
  8. Interning at the CIA is extremely unlikely to help your application. A summer internship at a Fed might, but only a little. You need letters of recommendation from economists who regularly publish academic material. Folks at the CIA don't generally do this. (Those at the Fed do.)
  9. An MBA will help not whatsoever.

 

Hawaii offers a math review session during the summer. You might want to try and talk your way into this. Not so much to review math, but because it will be an opportunity to learn more about what graduate training in economics is like and whether getting an econ PhD should be your goal.

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startz: Thank you for your ideas, it's so great to have someone offer me feedback at this stage in my career.

 

1. Actually, I'd say half of the 20 or so Econ faculty at UH Manoa know me personally (since I was an eager Econ major & doctoral program admit in 2013).

2. Actually, the faculty at UH Manoa are amazing, there's Princeton, Rice, Caltech, Columbia, UPenn, Berkeley, Michigan, and more among others. Which is one reason why I want to get my PhD on the mainland, because nobody in the dept. has a PhD from Hawaii and I understand that people don't really select from their own crop to serve on faculty unless it's a top school.

3. I'd consider it, but it's one of the last places I'd want to get a PhD. I don't even think it pays a stipend, in addition to making it extremely difficult to work as a professor at UH Manoa afterwards.

4. I'm all for the MA at UH Manoa because I've been informally accepted already and it's the only respectable Econ MA program in Hawaii where I live. Otherwise I'd have to do online since I can't afford to live outside of Hawaii, and online programs like Johns Hopkins are also expensive in themselves.

5. Yes, my undergraduate GPA wasn't good, but it's good enough to have a compelling comeback in my MA program and then be admitted, provided there are other very positive factors.

6. You might be right, but shoot for the stars and I'll land on the moon, right? I find it highly motivating to make Harvard & MIT my target schools too, which helps me learn the material with a lot of zest.

7. I think I might be able to get letters like that with some publications and a cum laude GPA.

8. I tried to contact the Fed and ask them what their acceptance rate was and what would make me a more competitive applicant. After 3 emails, the email they provided said to email this lady called Brittney, who I did email and haven't heard back from yet. I emailed her over a month ago. Not good with follow up...

9. I thought an MBA would give me a broader worldview, and I want to be an entrepreneur at a later point in my life too anyway!

 

Yes, I've been to the math review session back in 2012, and it was decent. But I'm learning a whole lot more now in my weekends and evenings...

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