The Course:
ECN332:  Money and Banking

Even with dollar bills in their pockets, credit and debit cards in their wallets and checkbooks in their residences, most college students who first walk into Dr. Sherry Kasper’s ECN332 course know little about money and banking.

And that’s troubling, according to Kasper, professor of economics and instructor of ECN332:  Money and Banking.

“In order to fully participate in the American system, you have to understand how the financial sector works,” she says. “It affects your day-to-day life as a professional and a citizen.”

Her class is mostly made up of upperclassman economics and business and organization management majors, so they’ve had an introduction to market economies and theories of employment, prices and money, but few understand enough to follow the discussions of economists online, on TV or in print.

“In order to fully participate in the American system, you have to understand how the financial sector works.”

Dr. Sherry Kasper

 

And these days – with a seemingly endless barrage of news reports about recession, inflation, interest rate cuts, real estate slumps and economic stimulus bills – there is a lot of complicated talk to follow. As one student wrote in a survey distributed at the outset of this semester’s course: “I hear the stories, but I don’t comprehend what’s going on.”

She’ll comprehend at the conclusion of the course, Kasper believes.

“I’m really teaching them a whole new vocabulary,” she says. “Part of understanding [money and banking] is just learning the language.”

But one of her first questions to students proves that it’s not as simple as it sounds. In week two of the course, Kasper stretches students’ minds by asking: “What is money?”

“Money is not dollar bills; bills are currency,” she explains. “For economists, money is anything that acts as a medium of exchange, a unit of account or a store of value.”

While considering the definition and role of money, Kasper guides students into lively discussions about cashless societies, interest rates, and the expenses associated with currency.

“The idea of a cashless society really blows their minds. It blows my mind,” she says. “But with technology, it really is possible.”

In a unit on financial institutions, students learn about the banking industry, bank regulation and credit cards. Kasper allocates one day in the syllabus to screen PBS’ Frontline investigative report on the history of credit cards. “Their eyes get really big” as they watch the documentary, she said.

The professor also uses current legislative bills going through Congress about credit cards and consumer protection to make the subject matter more relevant.

For other real-world checks, she arranges for a panel of ECN332 alumni who are working in the financial sector to come in and discuss challenges and opportunities presented by the economy today.

“One of the questions I want everyone to think about is ‘How do we regulate the banking industry so that the banks can survive in a way that also benefits the public?’”

Later, when the class turns to monetary policy and economic activity, Kasper again raises the issue of service to the general public when discussion turns to the Federal Reserve Board and its role in guiding the economy.

“How independent should the Fed be?” she asks students to consider. “Is it set up to serve society?”

In addition to textbook reading, Kasper asks students to regularly read and discuss economic-related articles printed in national newspapers and magazines. She asks that students watch television programs that focus on the economy, banks and financial markets.

And this semester, she encourages students to follow the U.S. presidential race and listen for candidates’ ideas on the nation’s economy. Armed with the vocabulary and basic understanding of money and banking, these students will have another tool to use to make an informed decision, she explains.

The knowledge gained won’t separate all financial matters into black-and-white/ right-and-wrong categories, though. Kasper hopes that students become more comfortable with ambiguity as a result of taking the course.

And she hopes they become better stewards of their finances – both their own and the money that may be entrusted to them as elected officials, paid employees and volunteers. Dealing with more dollar bills, credit and debit cards and checkbooks after graduation, students’ answers to the question “What is money?” will take on added importance.

Kasper says she hopes they’ll then remember a portion of the quote from Lewis H. Lapham that she has printed at the top of her 2008 syllabus:

“Money is like fire, an element as little troubled by moralizing as earth, air and water. Men can employ it as a tool or they can dance around it as if it were the incarnation of a god. Money votes socialist or monarchist, finds profit in pornography or translations from the Bible, commissions Rembrandt and underwrites the technology of Auschwitz. It acquires its meaning from the uses to which it is put.”