The course discusses how corporations can raise and allocate capital to maximize shareholder value. Topics include allocating capital for investments, measuring the opportunity cost of capital, capital structure choice, payout policy, corporate restructuring, and short- and long-term financing. The essential component of the course is corporate valuation, which will be performed through financial statement analysis, working capital management, debt and payout policies, and advanced valuation techniques.
This course explores the foundations of financial instrument pricing and the structure and organization of financial markets. Methods will be developed to analyze and measure financial performance, price stocks and bonds, evaluate portfolios, and understand financial derivatives as they relate to financial data.
Additional topics include the investment decision-making process, trading practices, risk assessment, and diversification. This course involves substantial statistical analysis and calculation, but no prior knowledge of statistics is required.
This course provides a historical and institutional account of the development and evolution of finance. It focuses on the evolution of financial theories and instruments and analyzes the major crises worldwide.
The course is divided into three main parts. The first part covers early episodes of financial crises and speculative bubbles, from the Tulip Mania until the late 19th century. The second part focuses on The Great Depression and its aftermath until the 1970s. The third part deals with post-WWII financial capitalism, focusing on currency crises, banking crises, stock market crashes, and the main crises episodes of the XXI century (The Great Recession and the Eurozone Crisis).
This course explores the history of Wall Street’s rise and its complicated relationship with the economy, society, and politics. The course traces the history of financialized capitalism from the Great Depression to the 2008 financial meltdown, uncovering how markets, politics, and society collided to shape the world we live in today. Along the way, it examines themes like the growing power of finance on society, the widening gap between rich and poor, and the global consequences of decisions made in New York trading rooms.
No prior background in economics is required—just curiosity about how money, power, and people interact. The course combines traditional lectures with guest speakers, panel discussions, and experiential learning. Students will have the chance to visit the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, hear directly from professionals working in finance, and engage in debates about inequality, regulation, and the future of capitalism.
Semester: Fall 2022
Semester: Fall 2023
Semester: Fall 2020