NOTE: The LBJ Washington Center opens this course to students currently enrolled in other public affairs graduate programs.
This course meets on Tuesday evenings from 6:00 - 9:00, but will also meet on some Fridays, during the day, for site visits with distinguished speakers. Time and dates TBD.
Students will learn about the role of the President’s budget and how it is developed, defended and executed. The course also will teach students about the congressional appropriations processes from the time the Congress receives the President’s budget to the time final appropriations legislation is passed, including the role of Congressional appropriations subcommittees and full committees, funding mechanisms, congressional budget procedures, etc. This course will build on the traditional LBJ School public financial management course, focusing on the federal budget process as a policy process involving the executive and legislative branches of government.
Topics include:
Budget as policy
Fiscal structure of government in the U.S.
Mechanisms of intergovernmental finance
Overview of public budgeting & the budget cycle
Federal budget formulation process (OMB and the executive agencies)
Congressional budget and appropriations processes
Federal deficit reduction
U.S. debt
Cost analysis
Budgeting examples, including for national security and foreign aid
Use of price indices for deflation and inflation
Tax evaluation criteria
Income tax
Understanding interest rates
How to evaluate a government budget
Budget reforms in the U.S.