Upon answering the phone I could hear the stress in my brother’s voice. After a long day at the office he was willing to talk with me and answer some of my questions. Before asking my question my brother exclaimed, “Fuck… what a day”. He works as an analyst for Dupont Capital, a company that invests Dupont’s money. His job is to analyze the stock market and find stocks that have the potential to make loads of money. After his frustrated remarks, I asked him to explain the current state of the economy. He said, “It’s discouraging and hard to predict the market when unpredictable things occur. Corona virus is currently not only causing society a panic attack, but dropping the market the lowest it’s been in a couple years.” He then went on to explain he is glad this is happening while he is young because he can learn a lot from it. 

After interviewing my brother I decided to take a different approach, and interview four students.  My first question for each student was, “What comes to mind when you hear the word economy?”, and to my surprise three out of the four brought up college tuition and student loan debt. The first student I interviewed was a pre-med student like myself. He said, “School is so ridiculously expensive by the time a student even gets to medical school they are most likely in debt. Then imagine after medical school how the debt will have built up.” This is a problem and issue I face as well. It is a major issue that prevents kids of lower income families from ever becoming doctors, unless they receive scholarships. The next two students I interviewed discussed school tuition. College tuition is the highest it has ever been, and it is extremely hard for most families to afford it. One of the students brought up the point that all the money we pay doesn’t even go towards what is important. Most professors are still paid minimally, which makes you wonder where the hell is our money going? 

The last student I interviewed, upon thinking of the word economy, brought up the poor vs. rich dilema. “The rich keep getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer,” she said. This relates to the college tuition as well. The rich are able to afford education for their kids, which will set them on a path to become rich. The poor however, are not able to afford education, which will hinder their ability to climb out of poverty.. 

It was very interesting to hear different takes on the economy, and how when the word was brought up all five people immediately thought of an issue. I guess that just sums up how messed up our economy is and how much needs to change!