International and Financial Economics

CFU: 6

Year: II

Instructor: Giulio Cifarelli

In the course the following topics shall be discussed: the foreign exchange market and the main financial markets; the efficient markets approach and the statistical properties of the financial time series; the monetary approach to the Balance of Payments and the portfolio balance approach; the exchange rate regimes and the "fear of floating" debate; the recent (excess) foreign exchange reserve policy of central banks; the theory of (ir)rational speculative bubbles; the recent financial crises and the literature on contagion; the relevance of speculation and the interaction between fundamentalists and chartists.

MacDonald R., 2007, Exchange Rate Economics. Theories and Evidence, Routledge, London, or McKinnon R.I., 1979, Money in International Exchange. The Convertible Currency System, Oxford University Press, Oxford