This course will cover financial markets and institutions both in their current form and through history, and the economic theories to understand them. On the institutional side, the topics covered include the historical evolution of banks, central banks, and bank regulation, the evolution of financial exchanges and their regulation, financial crises, and the role of finance in long-run economic development. On the theoretical side, the topics covered include theories and mathematical models of debt, banks, and macro-financial linkages. The mix between institutional and theoretical material will roughly be 50-50.