Web Page for Public Finance

Public Finance 90-736

Fall, 2002
Monday-Wednesday-Friday
Room 2503
Hamburg Hall
11:00 AM -12:20

Professor Robert P. Strauss
RS9F@Andrew.CMU.Edu

90-736 Course Syllabus

By Taking Public Finance You Can Learn about:

$$ Money, $$
Politics ,
Power and ,
$oftware $kills for your Resume

Money: CMUs will be distributed in class and used to teach you how government takes it and gives it back, and how non-profits like CMU take it and give it back. Figure out how to avoid kicking in, and ensure you get your fair share!

Example CMUs [rhymes with IOUs]:

Politics: Where else will you be able to get an up-to-date discussion of the political and financial shenanigans in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania and the Federal Government?
Power: Let's face it, money is power, and if you can learn how the Government controls it, you will learn how power gets exercised. With this valuable knowledge you can: 1) get rich, 2) protect the public interest, 3) schmooze with the best of them.
$oftware $kills: Add packages to your resume with a straight face! Show potential employers you know how to use:

SimCity 2000
Tax Analysts CD of the Internal Revenue Code, Regulations, and Supreme Court Cases
SAS 8.2 -based Micro-simulation Model of the US Personal Income Tax
Excel
Mathematica
FairModel of the US Economy.

Can you name another Heinz course that will let you pad your resume with so many packages?

Verbatim Testimonals from Student Evaluations:
"...this course is RELEVANT and not just Real Time, but Ahead of Time. Before Mayor Murphy's budget came out, we had a class discussion about just what the City's real deficit was. Even the Tribue-Review Whispers is talking about that discussion."..Public Finance, 2002 student.
Whispers November 17, 2002
"...Public Finance passes the South Park test of good, clean, All American education and reminds me that learning can be fun. I took Public Finance last year and did not realize until I began working in the real world just how valuable our in class demonstrations were on the adroit use of CMUs. At the public agency where I work, I often am the one who comes up with the most creative financial solution to a particularly difficult public policy problem. I owe my early promotions to Professor Strauss'Public Finance course. Heinz 2000 alumnae.

"...this is a must class for anyone considering a career in the public sector or a career in the private sector that may involve money..." Heinz 1995 alumn

"...this class literally changed my life. I lost 35 pounds and kept it off! Not only did it allow me to achieve my weight objectives, my personal life improved dramatically. I have many more dates because I took the Public Finance course, and the quality of them has improved compared to my undergraduate experience. God bless Professor Strauss!" Heinz 1991 alumnae.

"...the end of the semester Public Finance beer parties have become a mainstay of student-faculty interactions. Where else could one watch our fellow students snarf down free beer and pass out, secure in the knowledge that they had completed their final exam? Strauss deserves recognition for throwing the best faculty-student beer party every Fall and Spring." Heinz 1997 Alumn.
Scenes from December 9, 2002 Final Exam

Final Exam Requires Focus despite Universally Acclaimed Funny Questions

Students Working Hard to Pass Exam, Getting Thirsty

Scenes from December 13, 2002End of Semester Bash

[from left to right] Dave S. (TA), Tayo, Dave H., Mike and Manos

[from left to right]Dave H. and Manos [alleged tennis champ]

Joanlin chewing with her mouth closed [good manners!] and laughing...

Joanlin and Markques

Joanlin and Mike

Shawn shows up, in search of sustenance to fuel completion of pesky term paper in another class...

Katherine, chief apologist for Mayor Murphy's fiscal indiscretions shows up but not in power blue suit...

Markques has arrived! Starting with coffee, he moves on to Michelob...

[from left to right]Markques, Dave H., Poonsri and Mike survey the spread

Mike, Manos, and Joanlin eye the food, notice the gourmet vegetable tray personally created by Mrs. Strauss

Stephanie gets caught by the camera, flashes a smile ...

More of Mike, Manos, and Joanlin

Amy waltzes in, wondering what this will be like...blinded by the flash, she closes her eyes...

Poonsri is happy to see Yasuhito. They too are in search of food and drink to enable them to finish that pesky term paper...

Scenes from Typical End of Semester Bash 2000 ---Carlos, Caroline,Kim, Bob, and Pedro pose for a snapshot:

Bank of CMU Treasurer Heidi Marie Watt enjoys a cool one at End of Semester Bash:

Sherae Daniel gets the giggles at End of Semester Bash:

"I originally had my doubts, and the first six weeks didn't make any sense to me. The first exam floored me, and I swear Professor Strauss spoke in tongues most of the time. But something happened after I started attending class and reading the textbook that is difficult to express. Things changed, and I actually enjoyed coming to class." Heinz 1995 Alumn.
"Professor Strauss asked that we subscribe to the Wall Street Journal; at the outset I couldn't figure out why he wanted us to read the newspaper and talk about financial matters in class. I'm from Pittsburgh and had been a generally satisfied reader of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, one of America's Great Newspapers. But after reading the Wall Street Journal, I started learning about not only what was really going in Pittsburgh, but also in the bond market, the stock market, about interest rates and government finance. Things started making sense. Last year I started day-trading on the New York Stock exchange and made $7.5 million dollars in six weeks. Much of my skill in day-trading I attribute to what I learned in public finance." Heinz 1987 Alumn.
"Before I took Public Finance, I was lonely and had difficulty meeting people. Professor Strauss constantly called on me in class, especially when I cut and wasn't there. That got me thinking. I realized that the only way to be more outgoing and answer questions in class was to attend. Now, I have no trouble meeting people, and am filled with self-confidence." Heinz 1996 Alumn.
"I really like taking Professor Strauss' examinations because he always gives each of us a high quality cookie after
we take the exam and fill out the course evaluation form. No other CMU faculty member is so thoughtful!" Heinz 1997 Alumnae.
"After graduating college I worked for three years and developed a sleep disorder. I was diagnosed by doctors at the Mayo Clinic as having chronic insomnia. I was unable to fall asleep and was therefore exhausted at my job. The doctors prescribed reading an economics textbook such as Nicholson's Microeconomics as a way to fall asleep. It worked. To advance my career I went to the Heinz School, but found that the cure for my insomnia became my undoing when I took economics or statistics classes. But when I took Public Finance, I found that reading that textbook kept me awake and alert, and allowed me to sleep soundly after doing all my homework! I keep my Public Finance textbook under my pillow now and read it every night, 12 years after graduation!" Heinz 1987 Allumn.
"When I interviewed at the GAO, their questions were right out of Professor Strauss' examinations. I could not have been better prepared for entry into the federal government." Heinz 1999 Alumn.