ECN3615 Money, Banking, and the Economy
4 Advanced Liberal Arts Elective Credits
Central Banks exert a tremendous influence over the economy and financial markets. Anyone interested in investing in or running a business should have a firm grasp on the effects of their policies and a general ability to predict their actions. Moreover, the behavior of central banks has radically changed over the last decade, implementing in practice experimental polices that were largely theoretical previously (e.g. quantitative easing) if not unfathomable (e.g. negative interest rates). In this class, we will focus on how and why central banks implement these polices and adjust interest rates, and how those policies affect the economy. We will also focus heavily on central banks’ interactions with bond markets, stock markets, and foreign exchange markets. In studying these asset markets, we will also discuss general frameworks for thinking about how financial prices are determined, including potential behavioral influences.
Prerequisites: ECN2000