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Facing the Challenges of a Turbulent Economy
By Pamela B. Gann
It seemed like it was going to be a fairly normal academic year in
early September. As students gathered back on campus, I read their
e-mails about their amazing experiences abroad during the summer. I
talked with faculty and senior staff about issues ranging from
undergraduate research opportunities to our ambitious capital
campaign.
Only a few weeks into the semester, however, the stories started to
appear in every major newspaper. First it was Lehman Brothers and the
prospect of bankruptcy. Then it was the struggles of Merrill Lynch,
Washington Mutual, and American International Group (AIG). A few days
after the AIG bailout, the Bush administration and members of Congress
were calling for a massive $700 billion bailout for banks and the
financial sector, the biggest bailout since the Great Depression. It all
seemed surreal—day by day, we watched the markets dramatically
rise and tumble and saw the daily images of Wall Street traders in
agony, with hands on their heads. . . .
Excerpted from the winter 2009 issue of The
Presidency. To subscribe to the magazine, please call (301)
632-6757, or order online through ACE's
bookstore.
| Excerpt Facing the Challenges of a Turbulent Economy Pamela Gann The Presidency winter 2009 issue |
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