Financial Crises

This political-economy course delves into the factors that contribute to financial crises, including financial innovations. Students study concrete examples from both traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi) -- such as the Great Financial Crisis of 2007-09, the "Crypto Winter" of 2022 and the failure of several mid-sized US banks in 2023 (e.g., Silicon Valley Bank) - in order to show how risk builds and crystalizes. The goal is to hone your critical capacity to identify risks to the financial system and assess regulatory responses.