This book is designed for decision makers and not for academics.Each chapter provides a situation a goes through the logic of what one should do.It is also a very easy read for those who hate the standard textbook.
This is the only non-AIMR text that is required reading for all three CFA exams. I feel the Dr. Kolb's strength is laying out the basic tenents of finance for the layman. He also includes advanced formulas in the latterpart of the book if you want to get deeper.Certain other authors of financeand accounting texts seem more interested in impressing their readers withtheir acumen in the field. In this book you don't have to read a paragraph3 times to get the basic gist of what he is trying to say. It is very plainand straightforward. If only more academics would write in this manner. Mymain problem with this book is I found it so interesting I wandered off therequired reading sections for the CFA test too much.
This book is useful both for economic and legal analysis of financial institutions.It provides a plausible model to explain the corporate mechanism of a commercial bank, taking into account shareholders', lenders' (depositors'), and regulators' incentives. Although it does not provide any analysis of statutes or codes of banking laws, the model is simple enough to consider any rules in banking industry, from law and economics point of view, both domestic and international.It also provides brief analysis of specific financial schemes, such as scuritization, market value accounting, and more.Anyone who is interested in banking industry will find it worth spending several hours to at least scan through the content of this book.