Confessions of a college student...

Here we are, dangerously close to the end of another semester and, for some, the end of their college careers. Those who will not be re-joining us next year are headed off into an uncertain economy with a limited number of open positions in their companies. And if you are lucky enough to get a position, don't expect to get paid very much; times are tough for everyone, and you have so little experience. This is what I hear anyway. I don't have a sophisticated understanding of economics, so what's going on now kind of baffles me. So far as I know, companies spend money to make products, then sell them to customers at more than they cost to make so as to make a profit. Some companies have investors via the stock market, so they have to charge more money because the profits are split up between the higher-ups and the shareholders. These wealthy people buy more expensive things, and their wealth (hopefully) goes back into other companies to pay those who are not so wealthy, and so on and so forth. Then people pay taxes, and that's how a lot of our money goes over seas. The government has their hands in a lot of people's business, throwing money at everyone's problems. WE are currently providing aid to over 150 countries, according to a 2004 CRS report for Congress. And companies that have outsourced jobs to other countries are letting the money leak out too. Is that the sole reason we are so broke? Is that why companies don't have money to hire more employees? Because most American dollars are leaving the country faster than they are returning? I don't think so. I think the problem is that too many wealthy Americans are sitting on their cash. The obvious case to go with is Bill Gates; last year he had 58 billion dollars in net wealth, and he wasn't even the richest man in the country at the time. That title was held by Warren Buffett, worth an estimated 62 billion dollars. If those two were to halve their fortunes (a combined sixty billion dollars) and invest it in small businesses, they could create three million $20,000 per year jobs. According to the Forbes 400 Richest Americans list, last year, 31 individuals had net worths of over ten billion dollars. I tend to wonder what one does with that much money. Most of them have probably bought everything they want and then some. But now, it's time to re-inflate this economy. Invest in companies that pay their workers well (or they could pay their own employees better). Maybe if people are less afraid of losing their jobs, or at least have the security of knowing that other jobs are out there, they would be more willing to spend their own money. I don't know much about economy. The full extent of my knowledge comes from my father, my high school economics teacher, and common sense. Supply and demand, only spend what you already have, bull markets and all that. But I hope that those who do know what's going on, the people who know what the intricate little details of what is actually going on are doing their best to get things on track. Good luck, class of '09. I wish you the best in your economic searches. Please do your best to fix what you can in the years to come. Remember, the rest of us are soon to follow you out into the real world.

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