Introduction to Finance

It is to provide student with basic knowledge about categories and financial interlinkages between economic entities, enabling them to make independent interpretation of financial processes and to employ these skills in practice

1. Finances in the market economy (1 h)

2. Finances and Money (1 h)

3. Functions of finances (1 h)

4. Features of flows and financial phenomena. Circulation of money and of income in the national economy (1 h)

5. Financial system and its structure, finances of financial institutions, finances of sovereigns, finances of enterprises (1 h)

6. Financial institutions (2 h)

7. Financial instruments and their classification (1 h)

8. Financial markets and its instruments (4 h)

9. Exchange platforms and their importance in modern economy (3 h)

10. Tasks of a central bank (1 h)

11. Private versus public finances. Characteristics of a system of public finances (1 h)

12. Governmental budget and budgetary economy (1 h)

13. Tax system (1 h)

14. Main features of the international financial relations (1 h)

1. Mayo Herbert (The College of New Jersey), Basic Finance, An Introduction to Financial Institutions, Investments, and Management, Cengage Learning, Inc

2015

2. Marc Levinbson, The economic guide to financial MARKETS, Economist Books 2018

Questions from the scope of the syllabus, ex.:

- financial market and its segments

- benefits of the currency market

- features of the market of derivatives

- differences between money and capital markets

- tasks of a central bank

- tasks of any Ministry of Finance

- differences between shares and bonds

- types of bonds

- supervision over financial market. Why is it needed

- banking deposits protection schemes

- where from banks have money to grant loans

- structure of a governmental budget

- types of taxes

- directions of budgetary expenditures

- where from a Minister of Culture has funds to support theatres or museums

- crowding out effect

- why we decide to invest in shares

- why we invest in bonds

- instruments of the monetary policy of a central bank

- budgetary deficit. When it arises

- primary versus secondary market

- definition of a household

- independence of a central bank

- description of covered bonds

- public versus private market

- is it possible that a public debt exists in a given year despite a lack of a budgetary deficit

- Stock exchange

And so on.

In general, student gets one questions with some additional ones. Unfortunately, if student cannot demonstrate his / her knowledge for a question about, let us say, where from Ministry of Culture has funds, and the answer is: from a central bank, then I do not ask any other questions.

In general, I rates the skills of combining theory with practice. Ex., if student declares to invest in shares, my question is what he / she expects for return and whether always he / she obtains a dividend.

I reward for so called financial imagination, in other words – relation between reasons and effects.

The most active students during all semester could be exempted from exam. “Active” means a skill and readiness to discuss during a lecture as well as a skill to comment the current events with their appropriate explanation.