Topics will be announced before the semester.

Topics will be announced before the semester.

This course will examine the role played by institutions and political economy considerations in determining overall economic performance. The course aims to describe the role and evolution of institutions in economic growth, to understand basic models of politics, and to provide an introduction to the dynamic effects of fiscal and monetary policy. By the end of the course, students should be able to understand the the role of institutional failure, models of governance and mis-governance, optimal fiscal policy, and the concepts of reputation, credibility, and time inconsistency.

Weekly departmental seminars and student presentations in their research areas.

Introduction to the process of investing in financial securities; overview of the investment decision-making process; analysis of securities markets and trading practices; asset pricing under the capital asset pricing and the arbitrage pricing models; principles of modern portfolio theory; performance measurement techniques; asset allocation strategies; introduction to fixed income and derivative securites, risk management strategies.