Teaching

Current Courses

Business 35200, Corporation Finance

This course is designed to teach you the basic concepts used for corporate finance. Anyone who has significant management responsibilities will need to use the tools from this class regularly. To cover as much as is feasible I will mostly use lectures.  But we will do several cases to apply some of the ideas in more ambiguous and realistic settings. 

I view the course as being akin to boot camp: it prepares you for the rest of your career as a manager. The only way to really master the material is to practice using it.  So I have provided scores of homework problems.  Anyone who does the homework and studies the notes will do well in the class.  If you do not put in the time studying you will probably struggle. 2001-2009; 2023.

First Class Assignment:  

The first class assignment is to purchase the textbook for the class, Berk and DeMarzo 5th edition. You are expected to know the material in Chapter 2 of the book and to verify that you should do “problem set 0” in Canvas.  You should then read all of chapter 8 and sections 4.5, 7.2, 27.1, and 27.2 from the textbook to get ready for the first half of class. You should also skim the notes for lecture1. For the second half of class skim the notes to lecture 2 and read sections 10.6-10.8, 11.6, 11.7, 14.2, 14.3, 21.1, 21.3 and the notes on state contingent prices in Canvas.  

BUS 35200 Syllabus Winter 2025

Homework 0

FAQ

TA: Eric Milstein (emilstein@chicagobooth.edu) 

Previous Courses

Business 33403, Advanced Macroeconomics

This class is an advanced class in macroeconomics that is designed for students who majored in economics as undergraduates or have taken 33040 and would like to learn more. The course will have an extremely applied focus and teach tools and facts that would be relevant for people who need to understand aspects about the macroeconomy for their jobs, particularly in consulting or financial services. Each week we will cover a different topic. Many of the topics in the course will be organized around the impact of the pandemic on the macroeconomy, but the tools we develop will be of lasting value for studying many classic macroeconomic issues.  2020-2022. 

Business 35211, The Analytics of Financial Crises

The Analytics of Financial Crises is an advanced course that uses the tools of corporate finance to analyze financial crises. Much of the material pertains to the most recent global crisis, but also includes studies of past crises. Topics covered by the course include: the Great Depression; the Japanese and Swedish economic crises in the 1990s; proximate causes of the recent crisis; housing and structured finance; the periods of stress related to the demise of Bear Stearns, the failure of Lehman Brothers and the sovereign debt problems that surfaced for Greece; and regulatory reform proposals aimed at averting future crises. 2010-2019. 

Business 33402, Understanding Central Banks

An advanced macroeconomics course that will analyze the role and performance of Central Banks (particularly the Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan, and the European Central Bank) and other international agencies such as the International Monetary Fund in the world economy. Covers two broad themes: financial crises and the art of making (and interpreting) monetary policy, with a heavy emphasis on current events. 2001-2019. 

Business 331, Money and Banking

Analyzing the macroeconomic linkages between financial institutions, financial markets, and the economy. 1991-2000.

Business 584, Understanding the Japanese Big Bang

Special Seminar course looking at the fallout from the deregulation of Japanese financial markets. 1998.

Business 717/718, Lab in Developing Business Strategy for the Japanese Market

Laboratory Course in which student teams are sponsored by companies to write business plans on how the companies could break into the Japanese market. 1995-1996.

Business 309, Introduction to the Japanese Economy

Surveying the Japanese economy. 1993-1996.