FIN 227 Intermediate Finance
This tutorial style course explores the theoretical assumptions underpinning much of modern finance theory and practice. Students will read and debate classics from the philosophy of science and recent empirical finance literature that should inform confidence or skepticism in modern arbitrage strategies relating to asset allocation, portfolio optimization, and security selection. The first half of the course consists of excerpts from various "great works" of the philosophy of science, finance theory, and asset pricing. In the second half of the course, heavy emphasis is placed on empirical validation and critiques of popular industry and academia-wide forecast theories and methodologies.