22. Public and Non-Profit Finance
Financial Markets (2011) (ECON 252)
As an introduction to public and nonprofit finance, Professor Shiller reflects on the remarkable financial structures that we have in support of public causes, making possible the achievement of higher goals that transcend individual satisfaction of needs. He gives examples of nonprofits, illustrating how that financial form can support a moral mission and social purpose. There is however sometimes a fine line between for-profit and public enterprises, because similar companies can be either for-profit or non-profit and because governments regulate and collect corporate profits taxes on for profit-organizations, implicitly creating a public purpose for them. Subsequently, he covers state and local finance, outlining the difference between operating budgets and capital budgets as well as the tax-exemption of municipal bonds. During the last part of the lecture, he provides an overview of historic improvement in governmental social insurance that ranges from progressive taxes to public services and to old age, survivors, and disability insurance. All of these advances in public and nonprofit finance have taken place in step with other advances in human society, notably advances in information technology.
00:00 - Chapter 1. Organizations Supporting Individual Causes
06:45 - Chapter 2. Nonprofits: Pursuing Common Interests
18:55 - Chapter 3. Government Involvement in For-Profits
32:26 - Chapter 4. Social Entrepreneurship and Distinguishing between Nonprofits and For-Profits
36:43 - Chapter 5. Municipal, State and Local Finance
46:06 - Chapter 6. Tax-Exemption of Municipal Bonds
51:24 - Chapter 7. Government Social Insurance -- From Progressive Taxes to Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI)
01:00:10 - Chapter 8. The Invention of Social Insurance in Germany
01:10:20 - Chapter 9. Review of the Social Purpose of Finance and of Behavioral Finance
Complete course materials are available at the Yale Online website: online.yale.edu
This course was recorded in Spring 2011.