14.461 is an advanced course in macroeconomics that seeks to bring students to the research frontier. The course is divided into two sections. The first half is taught by Prof. Iván Werning and covers topics such as how to formulate and solve optimal problems. Students will study fiscal and monetary policy, among other issues. The second half, taught by Prof. George-Marios Angeletos, covers recent work on multiple equilibria, global games, and informational fictions.

15.012 Applied Macro- and International Economics uses case studies to investigate the macroeconomic environment in which firms operate. The first half of the course develops the basic tools of macroeconomic management: monetary, fiscal, and exchange rate policy. The class discusses recent emerging market and financial crises by examining their causes and considering how best to address them and prevent them from recurring in the future. The second half evaluates different strategies of economic development. Topics covered in the second half of this course include growth, the role of debt and foreign aid, and the reliance on natural resources.

The decades leading up to the Atlantic revolutions of the late eighteenth century were formative moments in the rise of capitalism. The novel instruments of credit, debt, and investment fashioned during this period proved to be enduring sources of financial innovation, but they also generated a great deal of political conflict, particularly during the revolutionary era itself.  This seminar examines the debates surrounding large-scale financial and trading corporations and considers the eighteenth century as a period of recurring financial crisis in which corporate power came into sustained and direct contact with emerging republican norms. The seminar ends with a look at the relationship between slavery and the rise of “modern” or “industrial” capitalism in the nineteenth century, as well as some of the critiques of capitalism that emerged out of that experience.

This 12-minute video lesson looks at alternate bailout plans and considers their moral hazard. [Financial Bailout playlist: Lesson 10 of 15]

This 11-minute video lesson is the first in Kahn's Financial Bailout series. It provides a review of balance sheets and explains the difference between illiquidity and insolvency. [Financial Bailout playlist: Lesson 1 of 15]

This 11-minute video lesson looks at a hypothetical bank balance sheet and explains what book value means. [Financial Bailout playlist: Lesson 2 of 15]

This 11-minute video lesson explains what it means when the market value of a stock is different from its book value. [Financial Bailout playlist: Lesson 3 of 15]

This 11-minute video lesson explains the different ways of accounting for an asset. It considers the mark-to-model vs. mark-to-market. [Financial Bailout playlist: Lesson 4 of 15]

This 11-minute video lesson looks at how the bank can liquidate assets to pay off debt that comes due. [Financial Bailout playlist: Lesson 5 of 15]

This 12-minute video lesson looks at how the bank gets bailed out by an equity infusion from a sovereign wealth fund. [Financial Bailout playlist: Lesson 6 of 15]

This 10-mintue video lesson looks at what happens when there is no equity infusion and the bank goes in to bankruptcy. [Financial Bailout playlist: Lesson 7 of 15]

This 12-minute video lesson looks at how the banks are connected and what happens when one bank fails. [Financial Bailout playlist: Lesson 8 of 15]

In this 11-minute video lesson Kahn considers what Paulson wants to do and explains why he does not like it. [Financial Bailout playlist: Lesson 9 of 15]

Healthcare Finance (15.482x) provides students with the background, resources, and framework to influence the healthcare industry. Topics include applying financial techniques such as portfolio theory, securitization, and option pricing to biomedical contexts to develop more efficient funding structures to reduce financial risks, lower the cost of capital, and bring more life-saving therapies to patients faster.
As part of the Open Learning Library, this course is free to use. You have the option to sign up and enroll if you want to track your progress, or you can view and use all the materials without enrolling.

This video is 6 minutes long and will explain how the FED operated after the 2008 Great Recession to help aid the economy in recovery. This video will enforce students understanding of EPF. 6 and 7

This course uses the tools of macroeconomics to study various macroeconomic policy problems in-depth. The problems range from economic growth in the long run, to government finances in the intermediate run, and economic stability in the short run. Many economic models used today are surveyed.

Module on international finance. Intended for community college students and aligned with the requirements for POLS 140: Introduction to International Relations within the California Community College system. Includes readings, lesson plan, and ancillary materials (lecture slides and handout).

This course provides an overview of macroeconomic issues: the determination of output, employment, unemployment, interest rates, and inflation. Monetary and fiscal policies are discussed. Important policy debates such as, the sub-prime crisis, social security, the public debt, and international economic issues are critically explored. The course introduces basic models of macroeconomics and illustrates principles with the experience of the U.S. and foreign economies.

As we live in the aftermath of the Financial Crisis of 2008, there are renewed questions about the nature of the economic system—capitalism—within which we live. What are its benefits and drawbacks? Why does it garner both so much opposition and support? What are its moral, economic, social and political implications? Is it even a “system”? How has capitalism played out in different historical moments and regions of the world? This class addresses the question “what is capitalism?” from a social scientific point of view, rather than a classical economic one.