The course provides an overview over advanced theoretical models and empirical results of the modern public economics literature. Topics covered are taxation (efficiency, incidence and optimal taxation), public debt (normative justifications for public debt, political economy considerations, the European debt crisis), the role of government institutions, public good provision, externalities, social insurance (adverse selection and moral hazard), redistribution and social welfare as well as international aspects of public economics (international tax and systems competition). The course also provides a brief introduction to micro-econometric methods used in modern empirical public economics.