Editing Economics (section)

=== Public economics ===
{{Main|Public economics}}

Public economics is the field of economics that deals with economic activities of a [[public sector]], usually government. The subject addresses such matters as [[tax incidence]] (who really pays a particular tax), cost–benefit analysis of government programmes, effects on [[economic efficiency]] and [[income distribution]] of different kinds of spending and taxes, and fiscal politics. The latter, an aspect of [[public choice theory]], models public-sector behaviour analogously to microeconomics, involving interactions of self-interested voters, politicians, and bureaucrats.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Musgrave |first1=Richard A. |dictionary=The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics |date=1987 |edition= |editor-first1=John |editor-last1=Eatwell |editor-first2=Murray |editor-last2=Milgate |editor-first3=Peter |editor-last3=Newman |author-link=Richard Musgrave (economist) |pages=1055–1060 |chapter-url=http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde1987_X001795 |doi=10.1057/9780230226203.3360 |isbn=978-0-333-78676-5 |chapter=Public finance |access-date=16 October 2017 |archive-date=16 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171016230041/http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde1987_X001795 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Much of economics is [[positive economics|positive]], seeking to describe and predict economic phenomena. [[Normative economics]] seeks to identify what economies ought to be like.

Welfare economics is a normative branch of economics that uses [[microeconomics|microeconomic]] techniques to simultaneously determine the [[allocative efficiency]] within an economy and the income [[Distribution (economics)|distribution]] associated with it. It attempts to measure [[social welfare]] by examining the economic activities of the individuals that comprise society.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Feldman |first1=Allan M. |date=1987 |dictionary=The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics |edition= |editor-first1=John |editor-last1=Eatwell |editor-first2=Murray |editor-last2=Milgate |editor-first3=Peter |editor-last3=Newman |pages=889–095 |chapter-url=http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde1987_X002306 |doi=10.1057/9780230226203.3785 |isbn=978-0-333-78676-5 |chapter=Welfare economics |access-date=16 October 2017 |archive-date=17 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017041911/http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde1987_X002306 |url-status=live }}</ref>