The last three or four decades have seen a remarkable evolution in the institutions that comprise the modern monetary system. The financial crisis of 2007-2009 is a wakeup call that we need a similar evolution in the analytical apparatus and theories that we use to understand that system. Produced and sponsored by the Institute for New Economic Thinking, this course is an attempt to begin the process of new economic thinking by reviving and updating some forgotten traditions in monetary thought that have become newly relevant. Three features of the new system are central. Most important, the intertwining of previously separate capital markets and money markets has produced a system with new dynamics as well as new vulnerabilities. The financial crisis revealed those vulnerabilities for all to see. The result was two years of desperate innovation by central banking authorities as they tried first this, and then that, in an effort to stem the collapse. Second, the global character of the crisis has revealed the global character of the system, which is something new in postwar history but not at all new from a longer time perspective. Central bank cooperation was key to stemming the collapse, and the details of that cooperation hint at the outlines of an emerging new international monetary order. Third, absolutely central to the crisis was the operation of key derivative contracts, most importantly credit default swaps and foreign exchange swaps. Modern money cannot be understood separately from modern finance, nor can modern monetary theory be constructed separately from modern financial theory. That's the reason this course places dealers, in both capital markets and money markets, at the very center of the picture, as profit-seeking suppliers of market liquidity to the new system of market-based credit.
KD
Very helpful course. Professor is very knowledgable in the field and way of teaching is easy to follow. Help to understand the modern money system and capital market.
FS
Both task question and material content are excellent, teaching methods are perceivable and likely learning in class. in conclusion, it was very highly recommended for anyone else.
PM
Extremely helpful is understanding the money view of banking system. One of the best courses. A small suggestion - it can be interspersed with more examples especially from the emerging markets.
DZ
This was an excellent course. I really enjoyed the way it was delivered and the was the Prof explained the concept. He is extremely knowledgeable and communicates very well.
SS
Very well explained and easy to follow for a non-finance/economics person. If you want to have a deeper understanding of the Financial Times or The Economist, I highly recommend this course.
SK
This course is really useful to me ... I was always interested on monetary and fiscal policies and associate mechanism in Macroeconomics and this course covers the Monetary part in good details.
PK
The "Economics of Money and Banking" course provided an inspiring look on the modern international finance system. Definitely, recommending it for both newcomers and already experienced students.
GG
Fantastic content, it explains how banks work behind the scenes and many intricacies of the current financial system. Super suggested even to those who don't have a financial background.
BG
An intellectually engaging course opening a debate about how we think about markets and how we should tackle the current challenges. Accessible to non-economists. I warmly recommend it to everyone.
XP
Great course on baking and the nature of money. It was very useful to understand some aspects of modern finance as well as to get a good insight into the banking system. 100% recommended!
FY
Excellent explanation of the way money moves the world we live in today. Brilliant professor who's passion and depth of understanding adds to the fascination of the world of money & banking.
MM
This course is definitely not for everybody; then the insights are crucial to understand the current economic and financial situation amid the COVID 19 induced crisis
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Excellent explanation of the way money moves the world we live in today. Brilliant professor who's passion and depth of understanding adds to the fascination of the world of money & banking.
I have learned a lot from this course. This course has completely changed the way I see economy and finance. I remeber once warren buffet said in his AGM"few teachers can completely changed the way you see world for me it was ben graham".professor mehrling could be my ben graham. It was evident from professors lectures the amazing knowledge and skills he has. Specially the way professor interprets FT articles is superb.Sometimes this course do get tough and confusing and to clear that confusion you have to revise old lectures. This course has helped me to get better understanding of how global financial system works
Working at a bank, I realized that economics and finance are in reality more driven by liquidity and money hierarchy than fundamental values. This course has given a very practical perspective on how the entire system evolved. The economics and finance they teach in schools need to come over the assumptions of perfectly liquid markets. The world is different. Let them prepare the coming generation about this since early age.
The content of the course is terrific, but given that the course material is from 2012 with many references to the 2008 financial crisis, it is very much out-of-date.
Professor Mehrling is fantastic. I found this course supremely interesting, and I learned an incredible amount from it. I would venture to say that most have not taken an economics course like this one before. This definitely felt like a real college course.. 13 weeks of lecture, 2.5-3 hours of lecture each week. I believe Professor Mehrling said in-class that the two prerequisites for this course (for Columbia University students, not Coursera users) are Intermediate Micro and Intermediate Macro, so the course is definitely fairly high-level. To put it into perspective, I was an Accounting/Finance major with Econ minor and have CPA/CFA. So while not "trained" in economics, I've had a fair amount of exposure, but I definitely felt intellectually challenged and frequently had to relisten to parts of lectures. Definitely recommend this course! Learned something every minute of every lecture.
Super insightful, I wasn't able to do a course in Money and Banking in university and I'm very glad I got to do this updated view on how banking works in the modern age. Excellent course
Although I hold a BSc in Economics and an MBA, I have to admit that before taking this mooc I only had some vague macro-based ideas about the actual mechanics of banking. This mooc is an eye opener to the realities of our modern money & credit markets and institutions. I finally understood some heavilly complicated concepts, like derivative financial instruments, that are presented in a manner that builds intuition easily around their usefulness as tools, despite their heavy quant mathematics that always deterred me!
This course is really useful to me ... I was always interested on monetary and fiscal policies and associate mechanism in Macroeconomics and this course covers the Monetary part in good details.
An intellectually engaging course opening a debate about how we think about markets and how we should tackle the current challenges. Accessible to non-economists. I warmly recommend it to everyone.
I found this to be an excellent introduction to how modern banking works. If this class grows increasingly popular, go long whatever company sells chalk because the professor consumes quite a bit as he sketches out a seemingly infinite number of T-accounts to illustrate the trading of money through multiple markets, including Fed Funds, EuroDollar, Repo, Swap and FX. By the end of the class, you get a good sense for the plumbing behind markets, and develop an alternative and practical view of what drives asset prices than what you perhaps learned studying economic or financial theory. You also gain an appreciation for how big shadow banking is globally, how all money is not created equal, and how the value of any asset can change drastically through the mechanics of the dealer system as investors discover this point.
Very interesting perspective on money and banking and the link between the two. A few suggestions for improvement: (a) make real e-lectures, not just take-outs from lectures, (b) provide a textbook (the lecture notes are mediocre), and (c) clarify what the course structure is.
Excellent course. It's not easy to find free courses on the website that have interesting topics and such well taugh like this one. You usually get used to find good ones that are not free (and it's totally reasonable).
With this course, i've personally learned a lot about the vision of international money and banking system; it provides you a complete abstract about how international payment system works and how banks/dealers use the money market (Fed Funds, REPO) to make markets in order to make them liquid and gain profits. Finally, he gets you into derivative's market (Credit Default Swaps, IRS, FRA, Futures) and how can you make those derivatives synthetically playing with different kinds of loans and debt.
Last but not least, All the topics that the teacher deals with are framed within their respective historical framework.
Learned a lot from this even though I should have taken a derivatives course beforehand to understand forwards, swaps etc a bit better as they were discussed. I now feel I have a good understanding of the banking system as a whole and how it succeeds and fails. Also gave some good food for thought on how to better regulate and manage the system going forward. I took this course as the coronavirus pandemic pricked the asset bubble and inspired yet another financial crisis. It was remarkable how many of the things he was discussing from the GFC are still a problem today and for much the same reasons!
Extremely helpful is understanding the money view of banking system. One of the best courses. A small suggestion - it can be interspersed with more examples especially from the emerging markets.
Very well explained and easy to follow for a non-finance/economics person. If you want to have a deeper understanding of the Financial Times or The Economist, I highly recommend this course.
Fantastic content, it explains how banks work behind the scenes and many intricacies of the current financial system. Super suggested even to those who don't have a financial background.
10+ years out of date. Incomprehensible course questions. Solid/good content though.
The course needs to be updated with time.
Most comprehensive course I have taken regarding Money and how it interacts with the economy. Having studied Economics as my undergrad, I was very disatisfied with the Monetary Policy course I took (the only one where we got the chance to see how Money interacts with the economy), because of its simplicity and "Jimmy Stewart" banking form of teaching, as Professor Mehrling usually refers to during this course. Congratulations and thanks for teaching me lots of important things I never heard during my career! Every Econ major should definitely take this course (even if you graduated), if you want to understand how the financial system really works, what is the real function of the Central Bank, and how we have evolved from the rupture of Bretton Woods in 1971!
It starts very simple, but this is really a profound course. Begining from "what is money", it looks into classic banking, how things changed in the shadow banking system, what money markets do and how the players operate, especially the role of market making brokers. If you have some economics and/or finance back ground, this will have your views stand on their head, and then come back on their feet. You will have a changed view on central banking. I don't think anyone can completely absorb this in one go, but it will provide really stimulating and eye opening views on every section of the lecture.