History of Finance

The aim of this course is to provide a historical and institutional account of the development and evolution of finance. In particular, we will study how certain financial theories and instruments came out, focusing on the major episodes of crises that have occurred around the world. The course is divided in three main parts. The first part covers early episodes of financial crises and speculative bubbles, starting from the "Tulip Mania" up until the late 19th century. The second part focuses on "The Great Depression" and its aftermath, up until the 1970s. The third part deals with post-WWII financial capitalism, focusing on currency crises, banking crises, stock market crashes, as well as the main crises episodes of the XXI century ("The Great Recession" and the Eurozone Crisis). Pre-req 1: ECON-251 Pre-req 2: ECON-252