This multimedia dossier is part of the series „Understanding Finance“ by Finance Watch and presents a description and critical review of financial markets and their functions. It furthermore discusses recent developments, as high frequency trading. 2015 Level: leicht What kind of financial markets do we need?   Finance Watch To prevent the coronavirus shock to demand precipitating a long-lasting depression, government needs to become short-term payer of last resort. 2020 Level: leicht Introducing the Payer of Last Resort Emmanuel Saez & Gabriel Zucman Social Europe Florian Kern replies to Zoltan Pozsar's analysis about the effects of the war in Ukraine on the global financial order and refutes the latter's prognosis of the demise of the US dollar as the world's reserve currency 2022 Level: mittel Why the war in Ukraine does not jeopardise the dollar's reserve currency status Florian M. Kern Dezernat Zukunft This course is an introduction to the economic theories of financial crises It focuses on amplification mechanisms that exacerbate crises such as leverage fire sales bank runs interconnections and complexity It also analyzes the different perspectives on the origins of crises such as mistaken beliefs and moral hazard and discusses … Level: leicht Financial Crises Alp Simsek Massachusetts Institute of Technology Dass die momentane Krise der Finanzmärkte auch eine Krise der Wirtschaftswissenschaften sei, liest man derzeit immer wieder. Der Marktliberalismus und seine Theorie der "effizienten Märkte" seien gescheitert, es gebe in der ökonomischen Ortho doxie kein Instrumentarium, um "wilde Märkte" zu verstehen die offenkundig Realität sind. 2011 Level: mittel Instabilität und Kapitalismus Hyman P. Minsky Diaphanes