Introduction to U.S. Financial Markets 4219-SE016
The course will introduce students to the main features of U.S. financial markets. We will discuss the key institutions, market structures, participants, governmental regula-tors and financial products found in the markets. Additionally, the course will bring to light some of the more significant boom-and-bust events in these markets. It is the goal of the course that students gain an introductory understanding of U.S. financial markets.
1. Nature and evolution of money
2. Fundamentals of the theory of finance. Definition of finance.
3. Special role, status and functions of the modern central bank
4. Banking risks, the mechanism of cash money creation
5. Money market – its functions, its participants.
6. Foreign exchange market, rate of exchange and role of the central bank in the market under various exchange rate regimes
7. Evolution of the theoretical underpinning of monetary policy in the past decades
8. Present-day understanding of the aims of monetary policy.
9. Nature and consequences of the growing public debt, its implications for monetary and financial stability of the economy, as illustrated by the present-day European experience
10. Capital market – its economic role and importance and its functioning under the impact of the latest financial crisis
11. Investment banking and institutional investors.
13. Problems of stabilization of the financial sector in the light of recent experiences
Type of course
Mode
Learning outcomes
On completion of this module, the student …
Knowledge
1.…has knowledge of the historical development of the American economy concentrating on the importance of finance.
2.…has knowledge and understanding in the field of monetary policy principles and the role of the Federal Reserve System.
3.…has knowledge and understanding of the causes of financial crises incl. the crisis of 2008.
Skills
1.…should be able to understand and enumerate the diverse tools that could be used to conduct monetary policy.
2.…should be able to evaluate the impact of the monetary and fiscal policy used by the government.
3.…should be able to explain which instruments of the financial policy have been used successfully to overcome crises, using case studies of the 1930s and 2008.
Social Competences
1.…is able to formulate his or her own opinion and discuss it with other students and professionals.
2.…is able to present issues to an audience.
3.…should be willing to share his/her knowledge.
Assessment criteria
Final exam, 50%
Mid-term exam – 50%
Bibliography
Essential Reading
1.Samuelson, Nordhaus, Macroeconomics,McGraw-Hill International edition, 2010, pp.169-191; 191-210 346-364
2.P. Krugman, The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008. W. Norton & Company, 2009.
3.Eugene N. White, “The Stock Market Boom and Crash of 1929 Revisited.” Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 4, No. 2 (Spring 1990), pp. 67-83
4.W. Bienkowski, Reaganomics Goes Global: What Can the EU, Russia and Transition Countries Learn from the USA?, Palgrave Macmillan, 2006, pp.5-12;44-53
5.O. Blanchard, A. Amighini, F. Giavazzi, Macroeconomics: A European Perspective, Prentice Hall,2010, pp.58-79; 306-324; 416-435; 436-455; 476-516
6.Frederic S Mishkin Stanley Eakins, “Financial Markets and Institutions”, 8th edition or later, Prentice Hall Ch.11-15, 23
7.G.Walton, J. Hughes, History of the American Economy, Cengage Learning, 2009
Recommended Reading
1.Douglass North, “Institutions”, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 5, Winter (1991), pp. 97-112.
2.O. Blanchard, macroeconomics, Prentice Hall, 2006, pp. 65-83; 314-332; 373-389; 533-569
3.Edwin Mansfield, Study Guide for Economics: Principles, Problems, Decisions, Norton&Company, Inc., 1977, pp. 161-197
4.F. Zakaria. The Post-American World: Release 2.0. W. Norton & Company, 2012.
5.T. Taylor. “Thinking about a ‘New Economy,’” The Public Interest, Spring 2001, pp. 3-19
R. Altman. "The Fall and Rise of the West."Foreign Affairs. 3 Feb. 2015. Web. 3 Feb. 2015.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: