The most important concepts in finance Contents: Preface 1. What is money from commodities to virtual currencies bitcoin Benton E. Gup 2. Blockchain: a primer Gerald P. Dwyer 3. Innovating to new heists: regulating cyber threats in the financial services industry Kristin N. Johnson 4. An overview of corporate governance Melissa B. Frye 5. Regulating corporate governance in the public interest: the case of systemic risk Steven L. Schwarcz 6. Whos winning the big match surveying state versus private ownerships effect on corporate value and policy Scott B. Guernsey and William L. Megginson 7. Interest rates Tim Gallager 8. Insights from corporate life cycles Benton E. Gup 9. Multi asset investing: beyond the 60 40 ball park Pankaj Agrrawal 10. Risk and the probability of insolvency: a regulatory perspective Betsy Faulk Walter Faulk and Thomas Lutton 11. An economic perspective of big banks Benton E. Gup 12. International real estate investment Mary Alice Hines 13. The state of pension plans: challenges ahead James R. Barth John S. Jahera Jr. and Sunghoon Joo 14. An introduction to Islamic banking and finance M. Kabir Hassan Sirajo Aliyu and Jennifer Brodmann 15. Stabilizing large financial institutions with contingent capital certificates. Mark J. Flannery 16. The state of research and the economic environment in small firm finance Ramon P. DeGennaro and Michael B. McDonald Index. Anyone trying to understand finance has to contend with the evolving and dynamic nature of the topic. Changes in economic conditions regulations technology competition globalization and other factors regularly impact the development of the field but certain essential concepts remain key to a good understanding. This book provides insights about the most important concepts in finance. Drawing from a broad background in finance Benton Gup has brought together sixteen chapters written by leading academics and professionals to deal with topics including Bitcoin cyber security banking corporate governance state vs. private ownership pension plans interest rates multi asset investing real estate US and Islamic banking and other issues that have a direct impact on the field its practitioners and scholars trying to make sense of it. This book covers timely issues in a way that academics regulators investors and bankers will find relevant and useable