ECO 425: Money and Financial Institutions
Fall 2010
Paul Fowler Atkinson, BA, MA, MBA.
Senior Relationship Manager: Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Office: Fronczak 437
Phone 656-2462 (@ Bank of America)
Email: pa27@buffalo.edu
Paul.F.Atkinson@BankofAmerica.com
Classroom: 115 Talbert 6:30 to 7:50 Tuesday & Thursday
Office Hours: Office hours immediately after class until 9PM Tuesday and Thursday,
additional hours by appointment.
Course Objective: The objective of this course is to enable the student to gain a robust
understanding of the business of commercial banking and financial products. Emphases will be
on topics such as measurement and managing of the risks that commercial banks face, with
particular focus on the global financial crises.
Prerequisites to Success in this Course:
1) The ability to work in teams.
2) The capacity to express complex topics in cogent and concise explanations.
3) Working knowledge of basic calculus and statistics.
4) Participation in the lecture through questions and dialog.
Class Lectures
A regular reading pace is expected.
Classes will focus on discussion, case studies, and example problems of the complex concepts
and theoretical models. Case studies will include the failure of Lehman Brothers and the
massive interventions in Citigroup and AIG. Most of the problems at the end of each chapter
should be attempted and studied.
Textbook
Required Text: Mishkin, Frederic S., The Economics of Money, Banking and Financial
Institutions, Pearson. (9th edition) 2010, ISBN13: 9780321599797.
Calendar and Coverage
The course is comprised of three segments
Part I Financial Markets:
Chapters 1-7
Paper Due: Tuesday, September 21st.
First Exam Date: Tuesday, September 28th.
Part II Global Financial Crisis:
Chapters 8-12
Second Exam Date: Thursday, October 28th.
Part III Monetary Policy &Theory
Chapters 13-16 & 19-21
Team Project Due: Thursday, December 2nd. Note: A classroom presentation of your
results will be expected.
Third Exam Date: According to Final Exam Schedule: (Kindly note the materials from all
three segments will be included!)
Grading
Exams 45%
Team Project 20%
Research Paper 20%
Participation 15%
A 95 to 100
A- 90 to 94
B+ 89 to 86
B 85 to 83
B- 80 to 82
C+ 79 to 76
C 75 to 70
D 69 to 60
F 59 to 0
Research Paper
Due Date: Tuesday, September 21st.
A ten-page fully referenced research paper, including bibliography, is expected. The paper may
be selected from the subjects below, however I encourage you to come to me with ideas for
your research. The instructor must approve however student initiated topics. Papers should
include the empirical data that supports your hypothesis.
Possible Topics:
1. Citi and AIG: Why the New York Federal Reserve had to act to prevent massive
counterparty defaults.
2. Merrill Lynch: What when wrong with Risk Management?
3. October 2008, what have we accomplished two years after the meltdown?
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Team Project
Due Date: Thursday, December 2nd (Project and presentation details to be furnished after the
first exam)
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