The course focuses on the disciplines of money, banking and financial analysis. This includes the study of the microeconomics of the banking business as well as the study of the markets where banking intermediation takes place in conjunction with financial theory in general.
It should be noted that within the subject of finance there is no clear separation from microeconomic or macroeconomic theory and for this reason we will also deal with issues such as the determination of the demand and supply of money, the theory of interest rate determination, as well as issues related to monetary policy and the functioning of financial markets. The latter are subjects that have traditionally been dealt with in the context of macroeconomics.
Course content:
- The role of the financial sector
- Introduction to financial systems
- Portfolio theory
- Determination of short-term interest rates
- The structure of interest rates
- Asset valuation
- Banks and the money supply
- The demand for money
- Monetary policy
- Markets (money, corporate bonds, shares, foreign exchange)
- Derivatives: The markets for financial futures. Options, swaps and other derivative products.
- Financial innovation and regulation of financial markets.
- Financial market efficiency.