My experience studying the MSc in Global Central Banking & Financial Regulation

"I am here to learn and soak up as much information from all sources, and it is a blessing to have teachers who want their students to succeed and to have fellow students share such unique experiences". MSc Global Central Banking & Financial Regulation participant, Matthew McConnell, explains why he chose to study our online programme.   

Having graduated a year ago from university and beginning my career at a large investment bank, I knew that there was a path I wanted to explore in which I yet had any experience. From the beginning of university and the internships that followed, I pursued economics and industry research with stock selection without a full picture of what underlying factors influence aggregate behaviour. In my short experience I have always drawn to volatility in financial markets and financial history, perusing peculiar data and books going back before the 1700s to find more clarity in what could be happening today and how it may relate to what happens tomorrow. I always in the end came to the conclusion that central banks were the crux of banking and financial market behaviour, and if it was not a direct impact at all times, it was indirect indeed.

Whether it was the printing of money, the debasement of coinage, purchase of financial assets, or being a lender in hard times, it appeared as if central banking was the key to my further understanding of speculation, valuation, and inflation. Throughout history of bubbles and busts, it appears only one central bank did not exude scrupulous behaviour and beget bubbles: the Amsterdam Wisslebank. With such odds against stable economic and financial activity over a prolonged period of time, I truly needed to understand more of the fundamentals behind what money truly is, how banking works in its core fundamental activities, and more than all, how central banks intertwine with the two. One can discuss monetary policy and the banking sector as separate entities, but it appears as if it is not credible to discuss other forms of economics without highlighting the availability of money and credit.

Credit may not make the world go round, but it makes the world grow without bound. Thus, understanding the core tenants of Warwick Business School’s (WBS) Masters in Central Banking and Financial Regulation is key, I believe, to understanding what the true drivers are in the world we live in. The professors on the programme are incredible and the students I have worked with are brilliant. I have never been around such passionate people who have immense experience globally in monetary policy and regulation. Without a doubt I have learned just as much collaborating with fellow students as with anyone I have ever learned from, and the professors drill in the knowledge to complete understanding of the topics.

The faculty is one I would never have imagined. The knowledge base, the interactive nature they have with the students, and the connections they have with central bankers makes this programme invaluable to participants like me. I am here to learn and soak up as much information from all sources, and it is a blessing to have teachers who want their students to succeed and to have fellow students share such unique experiences. What other programme across the world involves students from all continents trying to better their own financial institutions while also connecting under the umbrella of some of the best and most tenured professors in the world?

Find out more about the MSc in Global Central Banking & Financial Regulation.