Contemporary Finance: Money, Risk, and Public Policy - Hardcover

by Allan M. Malz (Author)

A clear new finance textbook that explains essential models and practices, and how the financial world works now

Contemporary Financial Markets and Institutions: Tools and Techniques to Manage Risk and Uncertainty is an ideal introduction to finance for professionals and students. It covers the basic finance theory required to understand the contemporary financial world and builds on it to present finance in a detailed yet comprehensible way. It explains markets and institutions, and the central bank and government policies that influence how they operate.

The book begins with an overview of basic finance theory, including investments, asset return behavior, derivatives pricing, and credit risk. It discusses topics that have dominated markets in recent decades, such as extreme events, liquidity, currency and debt crises, and radical changes in monetary policy and regulation. The concepts are presented alongside examples, strange market episodes, and data from recent experience. Contemporary Financial Markets and Institutions covers advanced credit topics like securitization in a straightforward, succinct way, without advanced mathematics, but with detailed examples using real market data. It integrates financial and macroeconomic content seamlessly. The book is suitable for use by undergraduate and graduate students, and by practitioners of all backgrounds. Abundant pedagogical resources in the book and online facilitate teaching.

This book will help students and practioners:

• Learn the basic concepts and models in finance, including investment, asset pricing, uncertainty and risk, monetary policy and the regulatory system
• Explore recent developments, from the expansion of central banks to the chaos in commercial banking to changes in financial technology, that are dominating markets worldwide
• Gain knowledge of risk types, models, and measurement methods, and the impact of regulation
• Prepare yourself for a successful career in finance, or update your existing knowledge base with this comprehensive reference guide

Ideal as a sole or supplementary textbook for beginning and advanced finance courses, as well as for practitioners in finance-related fields, this book takes a unique, market-focused approach that will serve readers well in our turbulent and puzzling times.

Front Jacket

The financial world has been changing rapidly for over half a century, and even faster amid the crises of recent decades, placing risk and uncertainty at the center of our understanding of finance. The financial system is part of the larger global economy, and is increasingly shaped by monetary, regulatory, and other public policies. In response to these upheavals, Contemporary Finance offers an approach to financial theory and practice that integrates economics with the workings of institutions. As a textbook or professional reference, this volume represents a unique contribution to understanding the state of finance today.

This book's breadth makes it an ideal resource for economics and finance students studying for careers in both the public and private sectors. Topics covered include:

• Financial markets and institutions, including the basic theory and structure of derivatives markets
• Investor behavior, the role of uncertainty, and how prices are set in financial markets
• Firm capital structure and leverage
• Financial risks, including credit and liquidity
• Interest rates, securitization, and short-term lending markets
• Financial crises and extreme events
• U.S. and international monetary and regulatory policies and their relation to financial stability

Contemporary Finance provides a real-world overview of key concepts, explained without reliance on advanced mathematics.It is suitable as a sole or supplementary textbook for introductory and specialized finance courses, as well as for finance practitioners.

Back Jacket

Praise for Contemporary Finance

"Contemporary Finance is another tour de force treatise from Allan Malz, building on but extending the coverage of his earlier book Financial Risk Management to bring it up to date in a world of financial fragility and interconnected complexity. Dr. Malz is a gifted expositor who approaches the subject from the vantage point of both a market risk manager and a scholar of finance theory. I've been working on these topics for four decades and learn something new in every chapter. Moreover, the material I think I knew I now know how to teach thanks to Allan's books."
--Richard Clarida, Harriss Professor of Economics, Columbia University; Global Economic Advisor, PIMCO; former Vice Chair, Federal Reserve 2018-2022

"Contemporary Finance covers many key issues in finance. For example, it explains the nature of financial markets, how financial securities are priced, and risk management practices. It concludes with chapters on monetary policy and regulation. An important question for any book used in the classroom is: 'Will students want to keep the book after the course is over?' I am confident that students will continue to want to use Contemporary Finance once they become practitioners. The book blends theory and practice in an engaging way that is useful for all who work (or would like to work) in finance."
--John C. Hull, Professor of Finance, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto

Appreciate the complexities underlying the world of finance

Contemporary Finance is a textbook for finance professionals, undergraduates and graduate students. It covers the basic finance theory required to understand the contemporary financial world and builds on that theory in a detailed yet comprehensible way. Contemporary Finance introduces readers to markets and institutions as well as to the government policy framework within which they operate.

Suitable for students at all levels, this book connects theories and concepts directly to real-world events and examples. It includes case studies such as the London Whale and GameStop trading episodes, so readers can relate theoretical concepts to reality by studying their relevance to recent market events. With its focus on recent developments and global markets, Contemporary Finance is an excellent choice for professionals and academics looking to improve or update their understanding of financial economics.

By aiming for integration across topics rather than siloed explanations of individual subjects, Contemporary Finance offers readers a practically applicable foundation of knowledge that will serve them well in public service or the private sector. Today's learners need a contemporary, applied approach to the study of finance--this is it.

Author Biography

Allan M. Malz has been chief risk officer at several multi-strategy hedge fund management firms. He worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as a researcher and foreign exchange trader, and helped implement the Fed's emergency liquidity programs addressing the global financial crisis.

Malz is an investment consultant and adjunct professor at Columbia University, and the author of Financial Risk Management: Models, History, and Institutions. His work on predicting financial crises and on risk measurement for options has been published in industry and academic journals. He holds a Ph.D. from Columbia and a Diplom from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit?t M?nchen.