Individual and collective security are among the gauges of civilization, and at the same time they constitute necessary conditions for its progress. Their systematic pursuit is relatively recent among nations: prompted by the dreadful lessons of the 20th century, they took their present shape...

The famous 1956 contribution by Robert Solow was always thought to be central to positive, or descriptive, economic growth theory. We show that it is also at the core of optimal growth, because the Fisher equation of competitive equilibrium is nothing short of an Euler equation; it corresponds...

Intro -- INTRODUCTION -- 1 A FIRST VISIT TO INTEREST RATES AND BONDS -- 2 AN ARBITRAGE-ENFORCED VALUATION OF BONDS -- 3 THE VARIOUS CONCEPTS OF RATES OF RETURN ON BONDS: YIELD TO MATURITY AND HORIZON RATE OF RETURN -- 4 DURATION: DEFINITION, MAIN PROPERTIES, AND USES -- 5 DURATION AT WORK: THE...