2008 Woodie Awards
Video related to this article is available below.Issue date: 9/17/08 Section: News
Students on edge after market disturbances
Rebecca Kaplan and Juliette Mullin
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Penn students were shocked to hear on Sunday that Bank of America would acquire Merrill Lynch & Co. Hours later, Lehman Brothers Holdings filed for bankruptcy.
On Monday, the Dow Jones was down by 500 points at closing, the biggest drop since the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001.
The Wharton panel - which featured four prominent professors - sought to reduce some of the panic on campus, said MBA student Jennifer Akpapuna, co-president of the Wharton Finance Club, which organized the event.
"The crisis is obviously at the forefront of everyone's mind at school," said MBA student and Wharton Finance Club co-president Will Hodge.
Panelists discussed topics that included the circumstances that caused the crisis, the responsibility of the Federal Reserve in the situation, and a comparison between the March folding of Bear Stearns Cos. and current conditions surrounding Lehman.
Some experts say the outlook isn't all bad. In a column in yesterday's Wall Street Journal, Finance professor Jeremy Siegel, a member of yesterday's panel, said, "there is good evidence the worst is over."
Siegel says the current financial crisis could have followed the course of the Great Depression. But thanks to a "proactive Federal Reserve and deposit insurance," he doesn't see that happening this time around.
Wharton and Engineering senior Danh Trang said his biggest worries aren't for himself and his classmates.
Rather, he is concerned about friends who recently got jobs at Lehman, which was sold in part yesterday to the investment division of Barclays Capital, a global financial-services firm.
"If we think we have it bad, they have it much worse," Trang said. "At least we know in advance and have the opportunity to explore other options."
Viewing Comments 1 - 6 of 8
John C'08
posted 9/17/08 @ 8:04 AM EST
Schadenfreude: I has it.
Jack C'03
posted 9/17/08 @ 10:41 AM EST
John: You're a terrible person. I don't know anyone who would be happy about your job disappearing or threatening to disappear.
Josh C'07
posted 9/17/08 @ 12:17 PM EST
I must second John and declare that this is more humorous than horrifying.
rod
posted 9/17/08 @ 12:26 PM EST
Oh no, what are Penn grads going to do if they cannot go work for an investment bank in NYC after graduation?! How about they work hard to improve this world instead of making money by producing nothing. (Continued…)
HAHA
posted 9/17/08 @ 1:44 PM EST
I'm with John C. Not for the situation, but for the fact that Penn Students are distraught to the point of calling a campus meeting. Time to print up more of those "Wharton Business School Gradutate CANDIDATE" business cards and get to work looking in other sectors. (Continued…)
David
posted 9/17/08 @ 4:03 PM EST
Shock and anxiety sound like appropriate responses from students who worked hard, spent a fortune or borrowed heavily to become investment bankers, only to hear that firms are going up in smoke. (Continued…)
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