Frank Milne

In far too many cases, recommendations of forensic reports on previous pandemics were ignored. Substantial weaknesses in the preparation by public health authorities and governments increased the health and economic costs of the COVID-19 pandemic relative to what they would have been if pre-existing recommendations had been followed and a wider set of plans had been put into place. We discuss parallels between the lack of preparation of financial system regulators prior to the global financial crisis and the lack of preparation by public health authorities and governments prior to COVID-19. These parallels relate to: required stocks (of capital or equipment), data collection and sharing, lending facilities, stress testing and war games, early warning indicators and systems, contagion from abroad, operational risks, a system-wide approach (including effects on the real economy), models incorporating the heterogeneity of individuals, and effects on less-regulated parts of the system. The recent COVID-19 crisis has demonstrated that, apart from the direct economic consequences from illness and death from the virus, the main costs have been due to the varying degrees of preventative measures taken by the public, firms, and governments that directly impacted health, as well as social, economic, and financial activity. We make recommendations for carrying out post mortems on the COVID-19 experience, planning for future pandemics, and establishing transparent and accountable governance systems. We then propose the use of regular, combined health, economic, and financial stress tests and exercises/war games in preparing for future pandemics and other major environmental shocks.

An insightful analysis of the world's financial institutions and the regulatory challenges they face.

This text provides a concise guide to financial asset pricing theory for economists. Assuming a basic knowledge of graduate microeconomic theory, it explores the fundamental ideas that underlie competitive financial asset pricing models with symmetric information. Using finite dimensional techniques, the book avoids sophisticated mathematics and exploits economic theory to clarify the essential structure of recent research in asset pricing. In particular, it explores arbitrage pricing models with and without diversification, Martingale pricing methods, and representative agent pricing models; discusses these ideas in two-date and multi-date models; and provides a range of examples from the literature. This second edition includes a new section dealing with more advanced multiperiod models. In particular it considers discrete factor structure models that mimic recent continuous time models of interest rates, money, and nominal rates and exchange rates. Additional sections sketch extensions to real options and transaction costs.

Finance Theory and Asset Pricing provides a concise guide to financial asset pricing theory for economists. Assuming a basic knowledge of graduate microeconomic theory, it explores the fundamental ideas that underlie competitive financial asset pricing models with symmetric information. Using finite dimensional techniques, this book avoids sophisticated mathematics and exploits economic theory to clarify the essential structure of recent research in asset pricing. In particular, it explores arbitrage pricing models with and without diversification, Martingale pricing methods, and representative agent pricing models; discusses these ideas in two-date and multi-date models; and provides a range of examples from the literature. This second edition includes a new section dealing with more advanced multiperiod models. In particular it considers discrete factor structure models that mimic recent continuous time models of interest rates, money, and nominal rates and exchange rates. Additional sections sketch extensions to real options and transaction costs.