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Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy

Unit code: HBE333N

Credit points12.5 Credit Points
DurationOne Semester or Term
Contact hours36 Hours
CampusHawthorn, Sarawak
Prerequisites
Corequisites

 Nil

Aims and objectives

At the completion of this unit, students will be able to:
  • Provide an elementary description of Australia’s flow of funds, monetary aggregates, debt, equity and derivatives markets
  • Understand how changes in official interest rates are transmitted to activity in the real economy
  • Assess the reasons for the Australian financial system having developed the way it did; and being regulated the way it was and is
  • Compare the real and financial economies and understand their interdependence
  • Contrast the main types of financial institutions and products
  • Calculate the extent to which different economic schools of thought and ideas have shaped our financial system, and at which periods of our history; and correlate past governmental financial policies with the ascendancy of fashionable (and often transitory) economic theories over time
  • Appraise government fiscal and monetary policy. Estimate who wins and who loses from changes in government economic and financial policies

Teaching methods

Lecture/seminars (2 hours), Tutorials (1 hour)
Lecture/seminars will be used to introduce the topics, concepts and theories.
Tutorials will provide a forum for discussion, questions, debate, and demonstrating some of the resources available for the discipline.

Assessment

Two Tests (20% each), Final Examination (60%)

Generic skills outcomes

The graduate attributes which relate to this unit help to produce graduates who are:
  • Capable in their chosen professional, vocational or study areas
  • Entrepreneurial in contributing to innovation and development within their business, workplace or community
  • Effective and ethical in work and community situations
  • Adaptable and able to manage change
  • Aware of local and international environments in which they will be contributing (eg socio-cultural, economic, natural)

Content

  • The development, regulation, deregulation and performance of the Australian financial system
  • Correlation with changes in economic ideas and theories from neo-classicism, and Keynesianism through to monetarism and economic rationalism
  • The real and financial economies, flow of funds, monetary aggregates, debt, equity and derivatives markets
  • The main types of financial institutions and products
  • Demand for and supply of money, its creation, velocity and stability
  • The roles of the private and public sectors in relation to the money supply, and macroeconomic stability 
  • Future trends, prospects and performance

Reading materials

Students are advised to check the unit outline in the relevant teaching period for appropriate textbooks and further reading.