Teaching
Current Courses
BUSN 35720/LAWS 97125: The Analytics of Money Laundering
The U.S. kidnapping of the President of Venezuela, the conviction of noted sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, President Trump’s lawsuit against Jamie Dimon (CEO of JP Morgan Chase), and the $4.3 billion penalty paid by the Crypto exchange Binance are all linked. The common thread is via their connection to the U.S. Anti-Money Laundering (AML) infrastructure that is increasingly harnessed to pursue many different, sometimes competing, aims. The modern AML regime ties together the U.S. government, the financial system, the underground economy and foreign countries in ways that are little understood, yet profound. AML costs also represent a major expense for many businesses.
This course will tell the story of how the AML regime came to its current form and will assess how it is functioning. Students will do a group project involving original research to estimate the amount of money laundering through different channels, including the art market, cryptocurrencies, casinos, money service businesses, trade invoicing, commercial real estate, securities brokers and mutual funds, precious metals, jewels, and high-end automobiles, small banks, large banks and third-party payment processors.
Students must apply to enroll in the class – details on that are shown in the course syllabus. Applications are welcome for MBA, MiF and 2nd and 3rd Law students. The class will begin in the winter quarter with a series of lectures to give an overview of the topic and then the groups will begin their research. The research will be completed in the Spring quarter, when the grade for the class will be assigned.
The first 4 weeks of the course will be traditional lectures that provide an overview of the AML regime and an introduction to the methods used to estimate the prevalence of money laundering. In Class 5, I will present research that I have done on the prevalence of money laundering in the US residential real estate market. This presentation will provide a template that the groups can use for their projects. Class 6 (at the beginning of the Spring quarter) will include a first presentation by each group describing their ML area and the challenges they are facing. For class 7, we will meet subject area experts who will provide their perspectives on each of the areas being studied by the groups. The experts will begin with some lecture material and will take questions from the class. This class will be split across two weeks. Class 8 will have 25-minute presentations by each group on their area, along with initial estimates of the extent of AML in their area. Class 9 will feature the final, revised presentation. The final exam will be a report that elaborates on the presentations.
The class size will be capped at 18 students, so that we can have 6 groups of 3 students each.
Syllabus
REGISTER TO APPLY FOR COURSE
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.
Homework 0
FAQ
TA:TBA
Zoom course links are available through Canvas. Please make sure to click on the appropriate course section.
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.