Financial Markets (2008)
Financial institutions are a pillar of civilized society, supporting people in their productive ventures and managing the economic risks they take on. The workings of these institutions are important to comprehend if we are to predict their actions today and their evolution in the coming information age. The course strives to offer understanding of the theory of finance and its relation to the history, strengths and imperfections of such institutions as banking, insurance, securities, futures, and other derivatives markets, and the future of these institutions over the next century.
This Yale College course, taught on campus twice per week for 75 minutes, was recorded for Open Yale Courses in Spring 2008.
Syllabus
Financial institutions are a pillar of civilized society, supporting people in their productive ventures and managing the economic risks they take on. The workings of these institutions are important to comprehend if we are to predict their actions today and their evolution in the coming information age. The course strives to offer understanding of the theory of finance and its relation to the history, strengths and imperfections of such institutions as banking, insurance, securities, futures, and other derivatives markets, and the future of these institutions over the next century.
Brandeis, Louis D. Other People’s Money and How the Bankers Use It, Augustus M. Kelley Publishers, Reprints of Economic Classics. New York, 1971.
Brealey, Richard, Stuart C. Myers, and Franklin Allen. Principles of Corporate Finance, 8th edition. McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2005.
Douglas, William O. Democracy and Finance. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1940.
Fabozzi, Frank J., Franco Modigliani, Frank J. Jones, and Michael G. Ferri. Foundations of Financial Markets and Institutions, 4th ed. Boston, Massachusetts: Prentice Hall, 2010.
Hawtrey, R. G. The Art of Central Banking. London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1932.
O’Barr, William M. and John M. Conley. Fortune & Folly: The Wealth & Power of Institutional Investing. Homewood, Illinois: Business-One Irwin, 1992.
Shiller, Robert J. Irrational Exuberance, 2nd edition. New York: Doubleday, 2006.
— The New Financial Order: Risk in the 21st Century. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003.
Siegel, Jeremy J. Stocks for the Long Run, 4th edition, New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008.
Sullivan, Teresa, Elizabeth Warren and Jay Lawrence Westbrook. The Fragile Middle Class: Americans in Debt. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000.
Swensen, David. Pioneering Portfolio Management. New York: Free Press, 2000.
Unger, Peter. Living High and Letting Die: Our Illusion of Innocence. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.
Some facility with elementary algebra and calculus required. Course exams consist of roughly 50% math and theory problems and 50% facts and general understanding questions about financial markets.
Midterm exam 1: 20%
Midterm exam 2: 30%
Problem sets: 10%
Final exam: 40%