I’m enjoying my public finance class.
We’re learning a lot about the State of Oregon budget process – more than about local or federal systems. This is great for me; I have a real interest in how my state works. Furthermore, since we’re so close to the state capitol, we have access to people (who come in as guest speakers) who really know how this works. For instance, we’ve had someone from the state Office of Economic Analysis come talk to us. We’ve also had a speaker from the Legislative Fiscal Office. These speakers help make real an otherwise merely conceptual topic.
Some of the more interesting points in the class are our discussion of taxation theory; what constitutes progressive versus regressive taxation and the idea of taxing wealth versus taxing income. (For the record, I wholly and completely oppose taxing wealth, which includes the taxation of property.)
I’m glad I’m taking it.
