Thursday, October 12, 2006

Define: Glass-Steagal, Gramm-Leach-Bliley.

Is a compulsory government-sponsored Social Security retirement annuity system as subject to adverse selection as a private insurance company that offers individual annuity contracts? Explain.

What is a depression and how it different from a deflation? What is the neutrality assumption, and how is it illustrated in the "monetary fables" discussed in class? What is the quantity theory of money?

Explain how new money works it way through the economy. Who benefits from inflation (if anyone)? What is money illusion? What is inflation as a tax?

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

By the way, here is an excellent article by Henry Manne on the American investor, the wisdom of crowds, and insider trading laws. And, don't forget about the Career Fair this Thursday.
Why might the number of loans that aren't repaid to banks rise as interest rates rise? What might be a better strategy for banks than raising interest rates?

Suppose that a bank makes a loan to a business and that the loan contract specifies that the business is not to engage in certain lines of business. What is this type of provision called? Why would the bank make such a provision?

What is the name of the main problem associated with the separation of ownership and management? What do managers do that owners don't like? What types of solutions are available?

Is a large firm with thousands of shareholders more or less likely to suffer a principal-agent problem than a small firm with just a few shareholders? Explain.

Why don't insurance companies sell income insurance? That is, if a person loses his or her job or doesn't get as big of a raise as anticipated, that person would be compensated under his or her insurance coverage.

Differentiate between investment bankers and securities brokers.

Define contractual saving. How do insurance companies know how high their premiums should be for life and accident insurance? What kinds of problems do they face in assessing risk?

How is the PBGC financed? Define defined benefit and defined contribution. What does backloaded mean?

As an employee of a large firm, you are given the choice between a defined benefit pension plan and a defined contribution pension plan. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?

What are depository institutions and how are they related to the Fed? How were they traditionally segmented, and how are the segmented today?