This course covers monetary policy,banking and bank regulation,and the functioning of financial markets and institutions.We examine the interconnections between these elements in an open world economy where goods and capital move freely across borders.Major attention will be given to banking and financial crises,their origins and resolution,looking both at the US and other countries.We look at financial structure,financial development and financial crises,with special emphasis on the recent subprime crisis.In addition,we will cover the economics of bank management, along with the effects of the behavior of individual financial institutions on the financial system as a whole and on the economy as a whole. The course will also cover the theory and practice of monetary policy using the Federal Reserve Bank of the US as our main example.We will cover issues of central bank independence,goals of monetary policy,control of the money supply and tools used by central banks,and issues of tactics and strategy.Consideration will also be given to monetary policy in conditions of deep recession and deflation,quantitative easing and unconventional monetary policy instruments in the most recent crisis. Discussion of money demand and the transmission mechanism is also presented while looking at debates on these crucial issues for central banks.