Microeconomics for public policy: helping the invisible hand

This textbook shows how the concepts and methods of microeconomics can illuminate important questions in public affairs. The author demonstrates how a small amount of economic theory, if well selected and articulately presented, can make a significant difference to the informed and effective handling of policy issues such as how the high fixed cost of reopening a disused railway line can best be recovered, or how subsidies for public transport should be shared between local and national taxation. An appendix of concepts and results is included for the benefit of those with no previous knowledge of microeconomics.