The basic focus of financial economics, taught by faculty from the Department of Economics and the School of Management, is captured by the subtitle: Educating a Wall Street Economist. Twenty-five years ago, this label would probably have signified someone forecasting the domestic business outlook for financial institutions.
In today’s global market, “market watching” requires understanding monetary and fiscal policies, international trade and exchange rates, and the forces driving economic growth and development in all countries. The proliferation of financial instruments and strategies, such as financial futures, derivatives, hedge funds, risk arbitrageurs, securitization of liquid assets, program trading and interest rate swaps, has also pushed economics into the center of financial operations. The operation of markets for the new instruments is based on fundamental principles of economics.
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