Introduction to the Special Issue on Current Topics in Public Economics

Abstract

Arguably, Public Economics, broadly interpreted, is one of the most vital specializations within the Economics discipline. This Special Issue of The Atlantic Economic Journal reflects this circumstance. There are five papers in the portion of this issue that are devoted to Public Economics, each of which is very contemporary in nature. The first paper, written by Cebula and Toma, deals with the War in Iraq and public choice issues related to troop deployment. Given the implications of the War in Iraq for the U.S. in terms of spending, budget deficits, and debt, it is fitting that the second paper in this issue, written by Payne and Mohammadi, addresses the sustainability and structural stability of the U.S. federal budget deficit. The third paper in this issue, by James Koch, deals with the issue of distance learning at the public university level and empirically evaluating the efficiency of public expenditures for such endeavors. The last two Public Economics papers in this issue address public choice issues dealing with voting and democracy. The first of these, written by Cebula and Toma, addresses determinants of interstate differentials in voter turnout using data from the 2004 general election. The last paper in this section of this journal issue, by Gordon Tullock, addresses voting, the nature/definition of democracy, and the choice of the Fbest_ form of democracy.