Alex Rees-Jones

For more information about my research, please visit my personal website.

Current Courses (Fall 2023)

• BEPP2010 - Public Finance & Policy

  This course explores the economics and politics of public policy to provide an analytic framework for considering why, how, and with what success/failure government intervenes in a variety of policy areas. Particular attention will be paid to important policy issues relating to taxation, social security, low-income assistance, health insurance, education (both K-12 and higher ed), the environment, and government deficits. The costs and benefits of alternative policies will be explored along with the distribution of responsibilities between the federal, state and local governments. While the course will focus primarily on U.S. policies, the topics covered (e.g. tax reform, deficits versus austerity, etc.) are currently at the center of the policy debate in many other industrialized countries as well.

  BEPP2010001 ( Syllabus )

• BEPP7700 - Public Finance & Policy

  This course explores the economics and politics of public policy to provide an analytic framework for considering why, how, and with what success/failure government intervenes in a variety of policy areas. Particular attention will be paid to important policy issues relating to taxation, social security, low-income assistance, health insurance, education (both K-12 and higher ed), the environment, and government deficits. The costs and benefits of alternative policies will be explored along with the distribution of responsibilities between the federal, state, and local governments. While the course will focus primarily on U.S. policies, the topics covered (e.g. tax reform, deficits versus austerity, etc.) are currently at the center of the policy debate in many other industrialized countries as well.

  BEPP7700401 ( Syllabus )

• The Subtle Levers That Influence Affirmative Action, Knowledge@Wharton - 04/25/2023
• To get the wealthy to pay more tax, first we need to work out why they avoid it, Financial Times - 08/29/2021
• Taxpayer rights: Seeking a new dawn for nation-builders, Financial Express - 08/24/2021
• Online teaching negatively impacts student learning, Wharton professor’s study finds, The Daily Pennsylvanian - 07/26/2021
• Lessons Learned from Teaching during the Pandemic, educationnext.org - 05/12/2021
• How Covid-19 is making us rethink safety net programmes, VoxEU - 11/04/2020
• COVID-19 and changing tastes for safety-net programs, Wharton Business Daily - 10/27/2020
• How Democrats Won the War of Ideas, New York Times - 10/22/2020
• Trump, Biden Fight to Bitter Draw in Final Debate, Foreign Policy - 10/22/2020
• Amid Pandemic, Here’s What Researchers Have Learned About The Economy, NPR - 10/20/2020
• When Students Are Matched to Schools, Who Wins?, Chicago Booth Review - 08/26/2019
• Pursuit of happiness: What we want doesn’t always make us happy, Financial Express - 05/03/2019
• Tax Refunds Are More Than a Boost to Your Bank Account — They’re Good for the Country, Too, Time - 02/19/2019
• Happiness Reveals a Lot about Our Choices — but It Isn’t Everything, Knowledge@Wharton - 12/19/2014
• An April 15 Deadline for Charitable Giving Would Be a Boon to Nonprofits, The Chronicle of Philanthropy - 12/08/2014
• Maximising Happiness Does Not Maximse Welfare, Vox - 10/15/2014
• Study Shows Taxpayers with Balance Due More Likely to Cheat, Forbes.com - 10/17/2013
• The Joyless or the Jobless, The Economist - 11/25/2010

Knowledge at Wharton

• The Subtle Levers That Influence Affirmative Action, Knowledge at Wharton - 4/25/2023
• Happiness Reveals a Lot about Our Choices — but It Isn’t Everything, Knowledge at Wharton - 12/19/2014

Wharton Stories

• Get to Know the 20 New Faculty Members Joining Wharton This Year, Wharton Stories - 08/17/2020