This course is reserved for students in the DC Program only. Kettl will be listed as instructor of record on the UT Course Schedule. 

(MPAff 60595/ MGPS 60590)

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.