Dr Jon Danielsson

This course is available on the MSc in Accounting and Finance and MSc in Financial History. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

This course is not open to students on the MSc Economics and Managements and students from the following departments: Economics, Finance, Mathematics, and Statistics.

This course has a limited number of places (it is controlled access). In previous years we have been able to provide places for all students that apply but that may not continue to be the case.This course 

Students should have some background in economics, and be comfortable with formal arguments

This course examines academic and policy debates regarding the operation of the global financial system. The course is designed to be topical, with economic arguments serving as the basis for issue analysis. The course begins with an examination of systemic risk, followed by a survey of significant institutions, focusing on central banks. The influence of cryptocurrencies, central bank-issued digital currencies, fintech, and artificial intelligence on the financial system will be examined. Several theories of financial crises are elaborated upon and assessed in light of historical evidence. Foreign exchange markets, including the numerous regimes and reserve currencies, will be discussed. The course examines recent policy and regulatory developments (including Basel III and macroprudential regulations), monetary policy and interest rate normalisation and their relationship with inequality and inflation, the current situation in the European Union, China's and America's roles, and the impact of Covid-19 and Russia's invasion of Ukraine on the financial system.

20 hours of lectures and 10 hours of seminars in the AT.

Students are expected to attempt the problem sets and essay questions set in the classes.

Most material will be provided by the book Global Financial Systems, by Jon Danielsson, published by Pearson, and the lecture slides can be found on www.globalfinancialsystems.org

Exam (100%, duration: 2 hours) in the spring exam period.