This course is based on a series of lectures regarding the functions of financial markets in society. We will start with some lectures regarding the history of financial markets. Then, we will turn to a non-technical introduction to modern finance theory. Based on a solid understanding of the theory, students will be able to interpret information revealed by financial markets and to recognize common abuses of such information in policy-making. The last part of the course concerns the interaction between finance and politics, i.e. how legislation and regulation directly influence the structure of financial markets and how players in these markets intervene in the political process to create or modify legislative and regulatory outcomes.
Students will participate in economic experiments that are supposed to illustrate the fragility of financial markets. Besides participating in the experiments, students will also learn to prepare experiments, to guide participants who are not economists, and to lead discussions regarding financial markets.
A component of the course is an ungraded assignment (10.000 ZoL) and discussion. |
