Financial Institutions, Markets, and Money, Eleventh Edition

PREFACE

WHY READ THIS BOOK?

TO THE STUDENT

We hope you are as excited about taking a course on financial institutions and markets as we were about writing the book. The core topics covered in the book are at the heart of what happens every day in the financial sector of the economy. When you have finished the course, reading the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, or the business section of the New York Times will be a piece of cake. Your friends, family, and fellow students will marvel at your insights into the financial system.

In the book, we stress fundamental concepts with an emphasis on understanding how things work in the real world. We hope that we have captured the vibrancy and excitement created by the dramatic changes taking place in the U.S. financial system. You are taking the course at a unique time in economic history, following the global financial crisis of 2007–2009 and the longest and most severe recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s. These events are radically reshaping the financial system.

Our goal is to provide a book that can guide you to a confident mastery and understanding of the U.S. financial system in an interesting and, hopefully, entertaining manner. The book is your passport to linking your classroom experience to what is happening in the economy and financial markets. What you learn will be applicable to your business career or in managing your personal financial affairs.

TO THE FACULTY

The focus of the eleventh edition of Financial ...