A repository of Aperitivo slides from the course. Each class begins with a 10-15 minute Aperitivo: a discussion of recent news or research that connects to the day's topic. These slides are meant to spark curiosity, not to be comprehensive.
Topic 1: Markets
Topic 2: Fixed Income
Grossman-Stiglitz and Pierre Yared
The Grossman-Stiglitz paradox and Pierre Yared's research on sovereign debt.
Financing the Sports Business
How professional sports teams and leagues use debt markets, from stadium bonds to media rights securitization.
Tax Revenue as Long Duration Asset
Thinking about government tax revenue streams through the lens of duration and interest rate sensitivity.
Interest Rates and Wealth Inequality
How changes in interest rates affect different parts of the wealth distribution through asset valuations.
Fed Trivia
Test your knowledge of the Federal Reserve.
Narrow Banking and Stablecoins
The century-old idea of narrow banking and how stablecoins are accidentally reinventing it.
Topic 3: Portfolio Choice
Asset Demand of U.S. Households
New data on how American households actually allocate their portfolios across stocks, bonds, and real estate.
Crypto Strategic Reserve
Examining proposals for government cryptocurrency reserves and what it would mean for portfolio theory.
Social Security as Ponzi Scheme
Why Social Security technically meets the definition of a Ponzi scheme, and why that's not necessarily bad.
Topic 4: CAPM
Topic 5: Beyond CAPM
Topic 6: Funds
Predicting the Future
Prediction markets, forecasting tournaments, and what superforecasters can teach us about investing.
Cat Bonds
Catastrophe bonds as an alternative asset class: how to invest in hurricane and earthquake risk.
NOVO, Data Centers, and Pets
Making investment decisions when there isn't much history.
Topic 7: Behavioral Finance
Topic 8: Taxes
A repository of Aperitivo slides from the course. Each class begins with a 10-15 minute Aperitivo: a discussion of recent news or research that connects to the day's topic. These slides are meant to spark curiosity, not to be comprehensive.
Topic 1: Markets
How to be a Good Short Seller
The art and mechanics of short selling done right.
Securitizing Human Capital
From Bowie Bonds to Milton Friedman: turning future income streams into tradeable securities.
Super Bowl Galore
The NFL as a capital markets case study: $7M ad spots, $16B in sports betting, and a $110B media rights empire.
Topic 2: Fixed Income
Need More Duration
Why managing interest rate risk is the central challenge for banks, insurers, and pension funds.
Data Centers
How the AI boom turned data centers into a booming asset class, with ABS and CMBS issuance surging.
Chonsei System
Korea's unique jeonse housing contract as a window into floating-rate risk and what happens when rates rise.
Topic 3: Portfolio Choice
What People Hold and How People Trade
A tour through the data on U.S. household asset demand, from billionaires to bond funds.
Jane Street and Terra
The collapse of TerraUSD and allegations of insider trading: market microstructure meets crypto chaos.
Korean Stock Market Crash
Portfolio optimization meets real-world stress test: the KOSPI's historic single-day crash in March 2026.