How Finance Works

This course studies the financial system through its institutions, instruments,
and practitioners. Each week takes up a different part of finance, starting from its history and
then working out its economics. Two questions recur throughout: how does finance improve
society (allocating capital, sharing risk, providing liquidity, producing information), and how
does it go wrong? Along the way, the course introduces students to careers in finance, but it
is not a business-skills course.