How did we get into this mess?
JEN GOLDING
Issue date: 4/13/09 Section: Features
These troubling economic
times have affected almost
every facet of our society, but
many people are unsure what
has caused this mess and who
is to blame. Recently,
Washington has been swept
up in a heated debate over
how to solve this problem
and bring our nation's fundamental
economic troubles out
of the gutter.
Across the nation, homes
are being foreclosed and people
are losing their jobs. The
American dollar is losing its
value and due to consumer
borrowing and bad loans,
there are record debt levels
and a credit crunch that has
led to unprecedented problems.
These national economic
problems have seeped down
to the local economies. Even
Bucks County, one of the
fastest growing counties in
Pennsylvania, has not been
without trouble.
Bucks County is located at
the crossroads of major transportation
networks and markets,
is known for a well-educated
labor force, low tax system,
and high quality of life.
Furthermore, the majority
of business in Bucks County
is small, and this smallness
has allowed Bucks County to
more successfully survive
past tough economic times
than the rest of the state and
the nation. However, due to
this current recession, the
county has experienced a 7.5
percent unemployment
increase since Feb. of 2007,
according to Pennsylvania's
Center for Workforce
Information and Analysis.
This recession has made it a
particularly hard time to be a
college student, and many
Bucks students seem to be
confused as to how it all
began.
"Being a college student is
hard enough as it is without
having to deal with this recession,"
said Natalie Burke, a
21-year-old business major
from Levittown.
"The cost of groceries and
gas is bad enough, and then
worrying about paying back
my student loans is just the
cherry on top," said 19-yearold
Jessica Collins from
Richboro. "I don't even
times have affected almost
every facet of our society, but
many people are unsure what
has caused this mess and who
is to blame. Recently,
Washington has been swept
up in a heated debate over
how to solve this problem
and bring our nation's fundamental
economic troubles out
of the gutter.
Across the nation, homes
are being foreclosed and people
are losing their jobs. The
American dollar is losing its
value and due to consumer
borrowing and bad loans,
there are record debt levels
and a credit crunch that has
led to unprecedented problems.
These national economic
problems have seeped down
to the local economies. Even
Bucks County, one of the
fastest growing counties in
Pennsylvania, has not been
without trouble.
Bucks County is located at
the crossroads of major transportation
networks and markets,
is known for a well-educated
labor force, low tax system,
and high quality of life.
Furthermore, the majority
of business in Bucks County
is small, and this smallness
has allowed Bucks County to
more successfully survive
past tough economic times
than the rest of the state and
the nation. However, due to
this current recession, the
county has experienced a 7.5
percent unemployment
increase since Feb. of 2007,
according to Pennsylvania's
Center for Workforce
Information and Analysis.
This recession has made it a
particularly hard time to be a
college student, and many
Bucks students seem to be
confused as to how it all
began.
"Being a college student is
hard enough as it is without
having to deal with this recession,"
said Natalie Burke, a
21-year-old business major
from Levittown.
"The cost of groceries and
gas is bad enough, and then
worrying about paying back
my student loans is just the
cherry on top," said 19-yearold
Jessica Collins from
Richboro. "I don't even
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
AndrewR
Andrew Rumbold
posted 4/23/09 @ 4:00 PM EST
Professor Meissner did well to bring up the Federal Reserve as one of the culprits- but neglected to mention that the 'Fed' is no more federal than Federal Express. (Continued…)
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