Financial Markets and Institutions (Key Issues in Economics)

The objective of this book is to explore the connection between the financial system and the rest of the economy. It is intended for students of banking, finance, accounting or business studies with some prior acquaintance with economic principles. Use is made of statistical material, primarily that published by the Central Statistical Office, the Bank of England and the "Financial Times", and the authors have tried to explain how to interpret the data from such sources. Topics include the origin of financial flows, and therefore the need for financial markets and intermediaries, to national income generating activity. The authors also discuss the behaviour of various types of intermediary, keeping institutional description of a minimum but emphasizing the relevance of this behaviour to real investment flows, monetary growth, the velocity of circulation and other issues. Again, when the authors discuss the range of markets, they have tried to analyze and explain that behaviour within the formal apparatus of supply, demand, equilibrium, movements along and shifts of curves, with which economists are familiar.