BEING SHAPED BY THE CURRENT FINANCIAL CRISIS.

January 8, 2009 at 11:33 AM · Economics, History

BEING SHAPED BY THE CURRENT FINANCIAL CRISIS. The Great Moderation must have shaped an entire generation. It lasted almost 25 years. People who began studying economics at its beginning would be in their mid-forties now. I wonder how much their experience of relatively smooth financial movements made them less likely to appreciate risks of large economic swings. Kids, I assume the current financial crisis—which has not yet been named— will shape the economic outlook of your generation.

4 comments

Annalisa January 8, 2009 at 11:30 PM

I wonder what the economic outlook on my generation will be. Currently I imagine that whatever conclusions are drawn from this will be hare brained. Then again, maybe people will learn another hard lesson (like the Enron case, perhaps?) and watch the bean counters more carefully, among other things.

Lee January 9, 2009 at 3:29 PM

I imagine once CNN stops talking about the crisis people our age will be right back to their blissfully ignorant ways. Belt-tightening seems to be done more because it’s in vogue than necessary.

Mary Jane Schaefer January 15, 2009 at 11:29 AM

Can the generation in charge of our world, at the moment, tolerate boredom? That is the issue. It’s the boring jobs that didn’t get done. Also, I wonder how much looking the other way was caused by other factors as well. Lack of imagination, for one.

Annalisa January 15, 2009 at 3:12 PM

The boredom is a significant factor. I hadn’t thought of it. I’m astounded by how suddenly everyone in my generation and the 13-and-under set has to be wearing ear buds and listening to mp3 players at all times. I’ve tried to carry on conversations with folks who were still wearing ear buds; the campers protest that they’re not allowed to have mp3 players in the classroom; there are increasingly higher incidences of people being hit by cars while trying to cross the street listening to music. All of this could amount to people refusing to allow the silence that would force them to listen to their own thoughts, or their refusal to be bored/unstimulated for a single second.