http://oyc.yale.edu/yale/portal_skins/custom/images/geanakoplos_banner.jpgGeanakoplos公开课Financial Theory" />

讲课人：Professor John Geanakoplos

John Geanakoplos is James Tobin Professor of Economics at Yale University. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University in 1980. He has been Director of the Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, co-Director of Hellenic Studies Program at Yale, chairman of the science steering committee at the Santa Fe Institute and Managing Director of Fixed Income Research at Kidder, Peabody & Co. Prizes he received include the Samuelson Prize (1999), and the Bodossaki Prize in economics (1994). He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (since 1999) and was visiting professor at MSRI in the UC Berkeley, Churchill College, Cambridge, the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, Stanford, and MIT. He was one of the founding partners of Ellington Capital Management, where he remains a partner. One of his current research topics is the leverage cycle

课程内容

This course attempts to explain the role and the importance of the financial system in the global economy. Rather than separating off the financial world from the rest of the economy, financial equilibrium is studied as an extension of economic equilibrium. The course also gives a picture of the kind of thinking and analysis done by hedge funds.

该课程分为26讲

Requirements:

Math in the course
Finance is a quantitative subject that can only be understood by solving concrete problems. But it uses mostly elementary mathematics. You need to be good at arithmetic (the distributive law is the basis for double entry bookkeeping), and be able to solve two or three simultaneous linear equations (x + y =10; x – y = 4. Solve for x and y). You must also be able to differentiate three elementary functions: dxn/dx =nxn-1; d ln x/dx = 1/x; deax/dx= aeax. The functions “log” and its inverse “exponential base e” are so important to finance because of continuous compounding of interest. Though they may be the most important functions in all of mathematics, they were discovered by bankers. You will also be taught how to use Excel.

Course reading
The textbook readings are meant to clarify or elaborate material presented in class, or to give you an idea of alternative presentations of the same material. For example, we might discuss bonds, how they pay, and how to value them. The readings might cover the specifics of particular bond markets (local, state, different countries), how they are taxed etc. There is no official textbook. In the past I have used Corporate Finance, by former Yale professor Steve Ross and two co-authors, and two others, by Sharpe and Merton, both Nobel Prize winners in economics (for contributions to financial economics). Their books were regarded as insufficiently quantitative, but might be useful to browse in. Another very good book is by Luenberger, but it is a little too advanced for this course. I have listed a dozen or so good alternatives and supplements, to give you an idea of where you could read more if you become interested. None of these is required. You should be able to follow the course simply by attending the lectures, reading the web notes, and doing the problem sets.

Grading:

Problem sets: 20%
Midterm exam 1: 20%
Midterm exam 2: 20%
Final Exam: 40%