Dr. Michael Brandl received his B.S. in economics from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Houston. His research interests include economic growth, financial economics, and labor economics. His teaching focuses on the application of economic theory to management decision making as well as global financial markets. He has won more than 45 teaching awards for work with undergraduates in economics and finance, M.B.A. students, and Executive M.B.A. students. Previous to joining the Rice University faculty, Dr. Brandl served on the faculty at The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business and in the Department of Economics. Prior to this, he taught at University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business and has held visiting positions at University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Economics, Texas A&M May College of Business, University of Houston Department of Economics, and Aalto University School of Business (Finland). As a consultant, Dr. Brandl offers custom training for numerous entities, including 3M, LG Electronics, Motorola, Texas Instruments, Frito-Lay, Texas Association of Counties, and American Public Power Association. He also serves as an economic consultant with the Magee & Magee consulting firm, where he has provided economics analysis in a variety of anti-trust, patent infringement, intellectual property, and economic damage litigation cases.

• Part I: MONEY AND ITS PRICES.1. Introduction and Overview.2. Money, Money Supply and Interest.3. Bonds, Loanable Funds & Interest Rates.4. Interest Rates in More Detail.Part II: MONEY AND OVERALL ECONOMY.5. Financial Markets through Time.6. Aggregate Supply & Aggregate Demand.7. Banks and Money.Part III: CENTRAL BANKS.8. Central Banks.9. Monetary Policy Tools.10. The Money Supply Process.11. Monetary Policy & Debates.Part IV: THE BANKING SYSTEM.12. Bank Management.13. Bank Risk Management & Performance.14. Banking Regulation.Part V: FINANCIAL MARKETS.15. Money Markets.16. Bond Markets.17. The Stock Market.18. Mortgage Markets.Part VI: GLOBAL FINANCIAL MARKETS.19. Foreign Exchange Markets.20. Global Financial Architecture.Part VII: FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS.21. Thrifts and Finance Companies.22. Insurance and Pensions.23. Mutual Funds.24. Investment Banks and Private Equity.