Teaching

Corporate Finance

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the techniques of financial analysis with applications to corporate finance. We assume the perspective of the financial manager, making decisions about what investments to undertake and how to finance these projects. The concepts developed in this course form the foundation for all future finance courses. The main topics covered include the time value of money and the net present value rule; valuation of bonds and stocks; capital budgeting decisions; uncertainty and the trade-off between risk and return; corporate financing decisions, and financial planning.

Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory

Macroeconomics studies the economic system as a whole and the behavior of aggregate variables such as output, prices, consumption, savings, investments, interest rates, etc. We  use macroeconomic theory to analyze and discuss real world issues. We begin with the IS-LM/IS-MP model to study the behavior of the economy in the short run, and move to the AS-AD model to study the medium run, and the growth model to study the long run. such as: What drives economic fluctuations? Why do some countries grow while others remain poor? What are the determinants of the unemployment rate in an economy? Is there a trade-off between unemployment and inflation? Are monetary or fiscal stabilization policies effective? 

Principles of Macroeconomics

This is an introductory course in macroeconomics.  The course will provide an overview of macroeconomic indicators, such as Gross Domestic Product, unemployment, and inflation.  It will also introduce the major topics in macroeconomics, such as aggregate demand and aggregate supply, economic growth, money, fiscal policy, and monetary policy. The class will focus on real world applications of the models and concepts covered in lecture, which will provide the successful student with a basic set of skills needed to assess the impact of certain economic events, government actions, and central bank actions on economic output.

Money and Banking

This course introduces students to the institutional features and economics of financial markets. The first section of the course examines the nature and history of monetary and banking institutions. Once we have established the historical precedent that led to the modern banking system, we investigate the theories of regulating that system. The course then moves to the theories underlying modern monetary economics: the supply and demand for money, monetary equilibrium, and the effect of monetary shocks on prices, interest rates, and real output. The third and final section will address the recent financial crisis and possible reforms of the monetary system. By the end of the semester, a successful student will be able to understand the role and determinants of monetary policy.  In short, we want to know how the Federal Reserve can have an impact the U.S. economy, what optimal monetary policy might be, and how we should judge the performance of policymakers.  

U.S. Economic History

This course explores the history of the U.S. economy. We will survey over three hundred years of history and focus on periods and incidents in U.S. history that affected economic growth using economic models. The emphasis will be on economic events, factors, and explanations. One goal for this course is to demonstrate the applicability of the study of history to the analysis of present‐day economic events. An equally important goal is to demonstrate the applicability of the study of economics to the understanding of historical events. The class is not concerned with the memorization of facts or events, but in developing your ability to apply economic theory to explain any historical event.