Free, unregulated financial markets serve the vital function of providing capital to the producers. Yet, through the ages, banking and other financial activities have been viewed as corrupt and exploitative. From the money-changers of the Middle Ages to the investment bankers of today, financiers have been crippled by the hostility of looters.
This course offers a moral defense of finance and financiers. It methodically examines the vital role they serve in the economy. And it explores the philosophical ideas that make the attacks on financial markets possible and why the profit motive is the only moral and practical motive for financial transactions.
Prerequisites or Corequisites: 200-level courses require that students are enrolled in or have completed the “16-Week Objectivism Seminar” (which has the Fiction course as a prerequisite) or have completed the “Intensive Seminar on Objectivism”.
Course Start Date: January 13, 2024
Level: 200 Start Date: January 13, 2025 Live Class: Mondays, 12-2 pm PT Quarter: Q2
Instructor Yaron Brook
TA Robertas Bakula (rbakula@aynrand.org)
Syllabus Syllabus
Schedule Schedule
Assignment Groups and Schedule Assignment Groups and Schedule
Course Reading to be Acquired by Students
Students must have access to Yaron Brook’s and Don Watkins’ book In Pursuit of Wealth: The Moral Case for Finance. If you have difficulty acquiring this text due to its price or availability in your area, please write to university@aynrand.org.
Reading for the First Class
For the first week, students must read the paper “Finance and Growth: Theory and Evidence” by Ross Levine, as well as chapter 1, “The Moral Case for Finance”, from the book In Pursuit of Wealth: The Moral Case for Finance.
Live Classes
You can join the live class on Zoom using this link: Zoom Meeting Link.
(Meeting ID: 815 6180 4514 | Passcode: 481398)
Participants are strongly encouraged to attend classes live for the best experience. However, we are aware this is not always possible and recordings of live classes are posted on the course website and on the ARU App/ARI Campus website, usually within an hour or two after the conclusion of each live class. Contact university@aynrand.org if you have any issue accessing a recording.
If you attend class live, please turn on your camera unless you are in a setting with a distracting background or your device is not on a stable surface. It makes for a much better experience for all participants when faces are visible.
Course Announcements
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ARU Discord
Ayn Rand University Discord Server
Course Communication Logistics
- Course announcements are posted in the Announcements tab of the course website and automatically emailed to all participants. Please make sure you are receiving these emails and that they are not going to your spam folder. If you join after the start of class, be sure to check the Announcements tab for anything you may have missed.
- For questions about course content, structure or schedule, please ask during the live class or in the course channel on the ARU Discord server (see the Discord tab of the course website).
- Questions about your assignments and grades should be directed to the teaching assistant.
- For personal administrative issues (e.g., website problems), email university@aynrand.org.
- If you have a technical issue preventing submission of an assignment, email your assignment to the TA and cc university@aynrand.org to troubleshoot the matter.
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