SPIA “Financial Markets” Short Course

Financial Markets for Policy Professionals

January 22-24, 2024

Everything you always wanted to know about private equity but were afraid to ask! For 12 years, JRCPPF has offered this popular short course to all SPIA MPPs and MPAs.

Registration is now closed.


The events of the last decade and current events highlight the need for public policy professionals to understand how financial markets operate. However, given the wide range of institutions in global financial markets, the seemingly endless number of instruments in which they deal and the specialized functions they perform, the world of finance can seem impenetrable to those who are not in the industry.

  • What is a hedge fund?
  • How does it differ from a private equity firm?
  • How do commercial banking and investment banking differ?
  • How are financial markets and institutions regulated?
  • How should they be regulated?

These are but a few of the questions policymakers must ask in thinking about financial markets. The purpose of this short course is to provide a framework for understanding the operations of financial institutions, the economic purposes they serve, and the markets in which they deal. The course will cover aspects of financial markets that should be part of the vocabularies of all public policy practitioners, including those who work for federal, state, and local governments; international institutions; and non-profits such as microfinance institutions or other social enterprise organizations. For a one-page news summary of the program click here.

Participants are expected to attend all the sessions in person. The course will run over three days. Breakfast and lunch will be provided on the full days.


Course Schedule, January 22-24, 2024

MONDAY, 1/22/24  (Room 101, Julis Romo Rabinowitz Building)

9:00 – 9:30 am Breakfast
9:30 am – 12:30 pm (break around 11 am) Framework for Understanding Financial Markets Lance Eckel & Matt Porio, Finance IQ
12:30 – 1:30 pm Lunch
1:30 – 4:30 pm (break around 3 pm) Framework for Understanding Financial Markets Lance Eckel & Matt Porio, Finance IQ
5:00 – 6:00 pm Pizza dinner 
>6:00 – 9:00 pm

Financial Accounting for Policy Makers

Donal Byard, Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College

 TUESDAY, 1/23/24   (Room 101, Julis Romo Rabinowitz Building)

9:00 – 9:30 am

Breakfast  

9:30 – 10:45 am

 

Mortgages, Derivatives, and the Great Financial Crisis

Pallavi Nuka, Associate Director, JRCPPF

10:45 – 11:00 am

Break

11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Municipal Bond Markets 

RJ Gallo *96, Senior Vice President, Municipal Bond Group Head, Federated Hermes

12:00 – 1:00 pm

Lunch

1:00 – 2:00 pm

Asian Capital Markets

JC de Swaan, Visiting Lecturer in Economics, Partner at Cornwall Capital 

2:00 – 3:00 pm

Fintech & Public Policy 

Charles Schorin *88, Managing Member, Taconic Advisory Service

3:00 – 3:15 pm

Break

3:15 – 4:15 pm

Asset Management in an Uncertain Policy Environment
Kristin Burke ’02, Partner, Harding Loevner

4:15 – 4:30 pm

Wrap-up of the day

WEDNESDAY, 1/24/24 (Room 101, Julis Romo Rabinowitz Building)

11:45 am

Lunch

12:00 – 1:30 pm

Financial Markets Regulation

Carolyn Wilkins, Senior Research Scholar, Princeton University

Norm Champ ‘85, Kirkland Ellis

Diane Dobbeck *97, Federal Reserve Bank of NY

Charles Yi *03, Federal Housing Finance Authority (TBC)

1:30 pm

 Wrap-up of the course