Note: This is post #90 in a weekly video series on basic economics.

Most borrowers, such as individuals and small businesses, borrow through banks. But larger institutions can also borrow from a different financial intermediary: the bond market.

In this video by Marginal Revolution University, Alex Tabarrok explains what bonds are, what they do, how they’re rated, and how the bond markets work.

(If you find the pace of the videos too slow, I’d mend watching them at 1.5 to 2 times the speed. You can adjust the speed at which the video plays by clicking on “Settings” (the gear symbol) and changing “Speed” from normal to 1.25, 1.5 or 2.)

Clickhereto see other videos in the Introduction to Economics series.