Part I: A History of Banking
1.A brief history of money and credit
2. Banking in the 20th Century
Part II: How Banking Works
3. Money and Inflation
4. Money and Banking
5. Banking and the economy
6. Investment Banking
7. Banking in Crisis
8. Financial Instability
Part III: Modern Banking
9. Securitization
10. Shadow Banking
11. Modern Crisis-Dealing Practices
12. Epilogue: The Future

While paramount to the modern economy, understanding how the banking system works has been usually cast aside from overall economic education. Even in the aftermath of the recent financial crisis, which has underlined the vital importance of banking in the economy, the workings of the sector remain a black box. To this end, this book provides a comprehensive and easy to read review of the banking sector, covering all issues related to commercial and investment banking and providing experienced as well as non-expert readers the opportunity to expand their knowledge on these topics. After going through the book, readers have the opportunity to gain a deeper knowledge regarding the commercial and investment functions of the banking sector and the ability to evaluate the potential outcome of policy actions. Nektarios Michail is a Senior Economist at the Department of Economic Analysis and Research at the Central Bank of Cyprus, and an Adjunct Lecturer at the School of Economics and Management at the Cyprus University of Technology. He has previous experience in various positions in the finance industry, notably in brokers and investment funds, providing investment analysis on an array of financial instruments. Nektarios holds a PhD from the Cyprus University of Technology and his research, focusing on banking and economic policy as well as international and maritime economics, has been published in various academic journals