Moneychangers

There is no doubt that money is an influential, necessary component of our everyday life. Finance, the study of how money is acquired and invested, has developed into an academic discipline, deriving from borrowed elements, tools, and technique from mathematics (Chance and Peterson 446). The fields of probability, advanced economics and physics have been the most influential on the reputation of finance. Though a relatively young field, its roots go back centuries. In more ways than one, the field of finance has emerged tremendously. Job prospects in finance are expected to grow faster than average for the next 10 years. From way back when bankers were called "moneychangers" to now, the quantitative fields emerge together to open new opportunities in the world of finance.

The scientific character of finance arises largely from its preoccupation with risk (447). The advances in computers and the development of increasingly powerful statistical techniques have allowed finance to become a truly empirical science, demanding that its various experiments be as objective, accurate, and repeatable as those in particle physics of microbiology (447). Risk in finance is both complicated and pervasive, and that is where the element of what is known as derivatives come in. They are instruments derived from the values of stocks, bonds, currencies, or commodities. These instruments allow the buying and selling of financial uncertainty, so that firms needing to reduce risk can transfer it to firms willing to bear it (451). All of these theories came together to be called financial engineering.

Many of these financial theories and tests are now as likely to be formulated at major financial institutions as at universities. The creation of these theories along with its risk management tools is what enabled practitioners of this discipline to find a place in the world of the academy.