Assignment:
Financial Markets Research Paper
The goal is the study, analyze and report your findings about the 2008-2009 Great Recession.
For your essay, you need to choose a particular institution/factor that played a key role in the recent financial crisis. For example, you can write about the reasons for the crisis, the impact of the crisis on financial markets and institutions, the impact on the global economy, the response to the financial crisis (the bailout plan and the effect of it on financial markets), or the aftermath of the crisis. The idea of this project is to connect the knowledge you gain from this course to the current financial situation, to apply the concepts that you learn in this class, and to better understand the financial system in the
U.S. The project should be interesting to you!!! Try to find something interesting and related to our class, which you would want to share with others about the financial crisis and describe it in your paper.
Listed below are some of the possible titles (focus area) of your paper. You have to choose one particular factor/institution and do an in-depth analysis in your essay. You could choose your own area to focus on as well but you should let me know what you have chosen.
• Role of credit rating agencies (S&P, Moodys, Fitch)
• Role of too-big-to-fail financial institutions (JP Morgan, Citi, Bank of America)
• Collapse of Lehman Brothers
• Mortgage Lenders and their role (e.g. Countrywide)
• Banks (Wachovia)
• Investment Banks (Bear Stearn, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley)
• Mortgage processors and underwriting process
• Treasury's role, TARP program
• Federal Reserve's role & reaction
• Failures of small regional banks (mostly in FL, GA, NV, CO, NM, AZ)
• Role of government policies (capital gains in housing, affordable home care act, increasing home ownership, regulatory laxity, etc)
• Frank-Dodd Act
• Stress test for financial institutions
• Over regulation and impact on small/community banks
• After math of the great recession - impact analysis on consumers/real estate/employment
• Any special topic that is of interest to you - email me for approval to ensure it is relevant