Financial history

All rich countries have well developed financial systems and the importance of financial systems for growth is continuosly proved by empirical research. At the same time financial systems are recurrently plagued by crisis and financial actors are often criticized in the public debate for shorttermism and right-out greed. In other words, financial systems are the epitome of capitalism and to study them raises many central questions: Why are financial systems important? Why do financial crises occur? What kin of ideas and ideologies lies behind different forms of financial theorizing and regulation\`? The course offers the students the tools to analyze these questions. The course examines relations between financial theory, financial regulation and market behavior, and the interplay between these spheres over the last two centuries. The course focuses on periods and turning points in economic history, such as financial crises, when this interplay has produced outcomes suitable for analysis and discussion. To advance the skill to pursue such analysis, the course also focuses on the history of ideas and the development of new financial markets and instruments. In the course the students not only deepen their historical frame of reference, but hey also develop their skills in recognizing and characterizing financial development in a lager societal context.