MFIN2220 · Finance

Global Macro and the Financial System

Carroll School of Management

The course is designed for both undergraduate and graduate students with interests in applied finance, economics, and history - especially students who are planning to work in financial markets, financial policy, or economic or financial research. Students should have an interest in current issues in international finance and policy, and enjoy empirical approaches - but no advanced quantitative background is required. This course focuses on a long-run view of the international financialsystem: we place the post-2008, post-pandemic financial environment inglobal macro, in asset markets, and in the bankingsysteminto very long-run context,in order to assess current secular trends in markets and the macroeconomy, including trends and "cycles" in inflation, growth, asset valuations, and financial crises. Students will first be introduced to the general contours of the international financial system up to 2022 - before turning to the major trends in banking and sovereign crises, monetary policy, asset pricing, and globalization. We put specific emphasis on discussing international financial themes that currently occupy policymakers, practitioners, and academics in a global "high inflation, low interest rate regime", in the context of longer-run historical markets data. We also analyze a wide range of past "shocks" and "crises" in global macro and finance over time,to learn how to evaluate risks. Among other issues, we will focus on the following current debates:1914, 1981 - and 2022? Major turning points in assetmarkets.Long-run financial crisis patterns and interventions.Historical shifts in the global reserve currency.Long-run trends in inequality, globalization, and wealth distribution.