Financial economics is the branch of
economics characterized by a "concentration on monetary activities", in which "money of one type or another is likely to appear on
both sides of a trade". Its concern is thus the interrelation of financial variables, such as prices, interest rates and shares, as opposed to those concerning the
real economy. It has two main areas of focus:
asset pricing (or "investment theory") and
corporate finance; the first being the perspective of providers of capital and the second of users of capital.