Econ Classes Incorporate Current Banking Crisis

Most students learn about the Great Depression in grade school. Now in college, we are getting a strong taste of the reality of an economic meltdown. Even with an overload of media coverage, college students can only know so much about the worst stock market slumps since 1997. In response to the current recession, professors in the economics department at Kalamazoo College are fitting our present economic state into discussions and assignments to keep students informed and make classroom topics more relevant.

Principles of Economics, which combines microeconomics and macroeconomics, is a beginner course that ties in well with the current crisis. As a result of the economic state, models and topics discussed in class can be easily worked into a topic relating to the recession.

“A few years ago when I taught the macro class, students weren’t that interested in recession because they had never seen it in their adult lives,” said Professor Chuck Stull. “Now, I’m talking about the same things I’ve always talked about, and now I can say, ‘in the news this morning, we had this kind of policy approach.’”

Stull, who currently teaches Principles of Economics, is able to fit almost anything mentioned in the news about the recession into course topics, which keeps students more engaged and willing to learn about economics in general.

Stull also mentions that although the crisis is all over the news, taking an economics class gives students even stronger knowledge of the economy’s inner workings. “Students are certainly coming in with the ability to understand the models and concepts, but they’re not coming in knowing them before they take the class,” he said.

Video clips, journal assignments, and discussions that deal with the recession are ways economics professors are getting students informed and engaged.

Beth Kiel K’ 11, who took Professor Hannah McKinney’s Public Finance and Fiscal Policy during Fall Quarter, mentions that the bailout was a topic of conversation almost every day in class, and that having assignments relating to the crisis kept students well-informed about the reality of our current economy.

In a class assignment, McKinney pulled information from the news on the fluctuating stock market. McKinney asked students to read the article and respond to questions such as, “What does this mean to you? How will this affect your future? What does this mean to your parents?”

“She [McKinney] is really big about keeping students up to date about what’s going on, especially because it’s going to affect us,” Kiel said. “I think classes that are focusing on current economic and political issues are amazing. At K we don’t have much time to be informed and these classes are sparking interest and awareness. It’s a great way to learn.”

By teaching students relevant information in conjunction with economic principles and models, K professors pave the way for students seeking jobs in areas such as financial firms and banks. During this difficult time, pursuing a career in one of these areas is more challenging than ever before.

“I want to do investment banking when I graduate,” said Matt Remsen K'10. “Some people are saying that there won’t even be investment banking. I have so many friends from last year who are still looking for jobs.”

On the upside, Professor Stull has been in contact with a K graduate working in a financial firm in Chicago that recently hired two additional K graduates. Stull said that the alum mentioned that ‘the K students must have been really good because they were hired when it was a really competitive time to get good jobs.’

Although this is one of the worst times to be looking for work, especially on Wall Street or in financial firms, the economics department is striving to give students a valuable learning experience that is applicable to recent news on the economy, and that will ultimately lead students to attain their career of choice.