Wall Street’s financial crisis has gained national attention, but business professors say the latest financial woes won’t affect students along Lindsey Street.
President George W. Bush signed the $700 billion Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, which went into effect Oct. 3. The bill calls for the government to purchase troubled assets from financial institutes.
“I’m sure everyone’s really nervous about this,” said James Benson, senior finance and energy major and Finance Student Association President. “It’s kind of like swallowing a bad pill.”
If the bailout plan works, the effects will be positive. The economy will slow in the beginning and jobs will decrease for a time, but then pick back up, said James Uskert, finance assistant professor.
Benjamin Keen, economics assistant professor, said if the bill hadn’t passed, students could have been in more trouble because private student loans would be harder to locate.
Despite a heavy tax price, the bill won’t have a negative effect on students, Uskert said.
“[If it] thaws up the frozen credit market, banks can loan and it will have a positive affect on students, making loans [more accessible],” Uskert said.
The bailout won’t affect students differently than other individuals, Keen said.
“It affects everybody [in that it will] improve the economy, which affects the job market, [which] provides more opportunities for students after graduation,” he said.
The rocky job market is another gray area for some students. Uskert said with the exception of jobs at bigger banks in the future, the banking industry should remain relatively steady.
“Right now they’re currently recruiting on campus. Jobs remain available,” he said. “Most of the community banks will thrive because most aren’t responsible for making the bad loans.”
Benson said effects of the bailout on the job market are hard to predict for current students, especially with the election. But he said companies are downsizing to accommodate the declining economy.
Benson said he is optimistic that the economic market will improve in the future.
“I anticipate it stabilizing a little. A few years down the road we’ll see some effects,” he said.
