Monetary and Financial Architectures (Syllabus)
Content
Who owns what and who owes what to who? Economies are getting more and more complex. At a given country and time, people own stocks of shares companies, mutual funds, pensions systems and have savings in banks accounts. At the same time, people owe credit card and mortgage debts. Banks owe money to their depositors and lend money to others, including other banks. Hedge funds invest in derivatives and complex products. Governments hold vast amounts of debts. To make things even more complicated, this system of assets and liabilities is denominated in some monetary instrument which is in turn the debt of a Central Bank! How does this complex financial architecture look? Why? What has happened over time? Why is this important?