[MUSIC] Hello, I'm Paul Kofman, dean of business and economics at the University of Melbourne. They're on the news every night. At times, our economic fortunes Seem to exclusively depend on the days movements in the Dow Jones index, the U.S. dollar exchange rate or the Dubai crude oil price, rather than on real economic activity. Fortunes are made and lost on global capitol markets, but they're not just the playground for hands on day traders, arbitraging hedge funds, and unscrupulous speculators. Sound corporate financial decision making, requires reliable price signals, and market expectations of future prices. CFO's rely on the efficiency, transparency, and liquidity of the capital markets they access on a regular basis. In the second course of our finance specialization series of four, you will learn how financial markets work, how they facilitate price discovery, and how that information assists CFOs in making optimal financing, and risk management decisions in corporate investments. But it's not all good news. The global nature of capital markets, and the evermore complicated assets they trade, have been blamed for the global financial crisis that started in 2008, and triggered governments to intervene and demand tighter regulation and integrity. We're looking forward to working with you in this course. [MUSIC]