Finance and Capitalism

Course Number 1457

Professor Joshua Coval

Baker Foundation Professor Richard Ruback

Professor Randolph Cohen

Fall; Q1Q2; 3.0 credits
25 sessions
Paper/Project
Note: This is a 21-session class that follows the Y-schedule but does not meet on Fridays after September 9th.

Course Overview

The course will enable students to analyze and understand how financial business decisions affect the overall welfare of society. The course will emphasize situations in which the pursuit of business profits both positively and negatively affect their communities, including their employees, local physical and social environments, educational and cultural opportunities and the like. It will also explore the larger impact of capitalism on economic growth and living standards, along with the role that capitalism can play and has played in exacerbating and/or ameliorating broader societal challenges, including climate change, environmental degradation, inequality, and social immobility. The course will delve into current topics and concerns with the goal of providing a less political and more analytical framework for students to form their own views about these important societal issues.

Course Structure

1) Course overview and empirical evidence / discussion on the role of capitalism and capital markets in economic development

2) A series of “micro” cases. Representative themes: entrepreneurship and local development, shareholder vs. stakeholder conflict

3) A series of more macro/system-oriented cases on businesses operating in different economics regimes. Representative themes: financial market development, trade protectionism, corporate governance

4) Concluding discussion of broader themes

One exciting aspect about the course is that we anticipate other (mostly senior) HBS faculty will teach and share their expertise as relevant.