Financial history

At the end of the course, the students will be able to :

• Understand what history can bring to finance ; and finance to history.

• Acquire scientific approach in finance

• Analyze historical events that bring meaningful insight (speculative bubbles, wars, secessions or repudiations)

The method of instruction will depend on the number of students registered for the course.

In all cases, students are expected to write a critical review paper worth 50% of the final grade.

If more than twenty students register for the course, the method of instruction will be through the reading of scientific articles and the discussion of them in class. Each class will be organized around four readings dealing with a common theme.
If less than twenty students register for the course, the students will be asked to form groups of three to four students. Each group will make two presentations linked to a topic chosen from the “Schedule of class” list or suggested by the group and agreed upon by the instructor.

Références, bibliographie et lectures recommandées

See syllabus on the université virtuelle

Contacts

koosterl@ulb.ac.be

Campus

Solbosch

Méthode(s) d'évaluation

• Autre

Autre

Class participation and critical review essay

Class participation: Since this course is focused on the critical discussion of texts in economic history, it is essential that you be present and be prepared to participate actively in all classes.  The assessment of class participation will be based in the first instance on your presence and on your presentations of articles (at least two per term).  The quality of your further contributions to the discussion will augment this basic assessment. 

Critical Review: You will submit a critical review of an article in financial history. This review should be no longer than 2500 words and should be e-mailed to me (koosterl@ulb.ac.be) the last week of class in the following format: student name and number; word count; full citation of article (author, title, journal title, volume number, year, page numbers); text of critical review (double-spaced); citations of other articles referred to in the review. The critical review should, in addition to being a coherent summary of the article, show how the article relates to the existing literature on the subject and assess its contribution to this literature. You should normally choose an article from journals in economic history (Journal of Economic History, Economic History Review, European Review of Economic History, Explorations in Economic History, Cliometrica, Financial History Review), but articles from other academic journals may be acceptable. Your article should date from no earlier than 2000 and should avoid survey articles. I suggest that you peruse the course reading list and think about subjects of interest to you, then search for suitable articles. Your choice of article must be approved by me before the Easter break.

Construction de la note (en ce compris, la pondération des notes partielles)

50% each

Second session: For students whose performance is unsatisfactory in the first session the second session assessment will be based on the class participation mark carried over from the first session and on a new five-page critical review to be submitted on the first day of the second exam session.  The article chosen for review should be agreed in advance with me.

Langue(s) d'évaluation

• anglais