TCHE303 – MONEY AND BANKING

Group Assignment
Date handed out: 2 November 2021

Maximum word length for reports: 2,500

Report submission and recorded presentation: 30 November 2021

ASSIGNMENT CREDITS

30% of the marks for the module are awarded for this assignment.

DESCRIPTION

Groups: In this assignment students will form small groups (maximum of 5 students each). Groups can
self-select and sign-up for a topic by the due-date November 7th. The topics will be first-come, first serve.
A topic can only be chosen by a maximum of two groups.

Students need to submit their assignment papers and hold a recorded presentation. The report and poster
session carry equal weight, 50% of the score.

Topic areas:

The following is a list of suggested topics, though any group that is self-selected can choose their own
topic of relevance to money and banking as long as they discuss the topic with the Lecturer before hand.
1. Is cryptocurrency the future of money?
2. With the rise of electronic financing and banking, does paper money have a future?
3. Will bank branches finally make an exit in the same way that book stores, music stores and travel
agents are disappearing from high streets and main streets around the world? Or is banking still the
ultimate business of trust, where people will leave their money only with institutions that have
branches on every corner as enduring symbols of their stability
4. Does deregulation do more harm than good for the financial sector?
5. If the market downturn has taught us anything, it’s that credit ratings agencies are deeply flawed.
Do we still need the credit ratings agencies?
6. Should big banks be broken up to prevent “too-big-too-fail” problems?
7. After inflation ran amok in the 1960s and 1970s, many central bankers fought for, and won, more
freedom to control interest rates and set other monetary policy decisions without political
interference. Their shields began to crack after the 2008 financial crisis. In the years since the
bankers deployed trillions of dollars to save the global financial system, the public’s faith in their
work has been fading. Critics say independent central banks are too secretive and put commercial
 banks’ interests before taxpayers’, so it’s time for more public control. Should central banks be
independent?
8. Fintech vs. Banking: Who’s going to win?
9. How can banks respond to Fintech threats?
10. Should central banks be independent?
11. Should central banks print money to get through the pandemic?
12. Should the Fed and other central banks clamp down on inflation if it looks like persistently
exceeding their 2% targets, even at the risk of bringing post-pandemic economic recoveries to an
early halt?

Reports:

The paper must be typed on a computer and comply with the following requirements:

Font: Times New Roman, font size 12 and a line spacing of 1.5.

Word count: The length of the assignment should not exceed 2,500 words. If the students exceed the word
count, the essay will not be sent to grading. Footnotes should be included in the word count of the main
text. Not included in this count: the front page (with name and title etc), summary and references
(bibliography)