Economic education necessary

By Nicole Harris

When I think of the Great Depression, I think of my grandma saving the foil from her leftover sandwich, Hoover Town and Gatsby. While my grandma has passed, Hoover Town is now just an image from the movies and "The Great Gatsby" a dusty novel on my shelf, I still find it hard to comprehend that we are now in the worst economic state since the 1920s.

Had I been an active observer of the high-stake game of national economics, I wouldn't be so surprised. I should have noticed the red flag when houses appreciated astronomically within five years in the real estate bubble. And it should have seemed a bit off how easy it was for people to get loans.

But our current economic state is not my fault, nor is it yours. Nope, the Bush administration and high-powered executives are all to blame for this mess. After all, we're just mindless robots who abide by every fortune seeker's whim. Right.

We live in a democracy, a country that allows us to be conscientious citizens. With this citizenship, we are privileged to have access to information about our economy and our leaders, as well as the freedom to properly manage our own money, choose our investments and vote for people who will stand up for our livelihood.

I'm sick of walking into a room and hearing people complain about the economic crisis, which has been years in the making. Yes, extremely poor choices were made by people who had the power to do so. Yet we were the ones who were buying second homes with low interest rates. We were the ones taking out immense debt against our "strong" economy.

But it's OK, everyone. Sit back and relax, because the same people who allowed us to get into this mess are promising our money, $700 billion at that, to buy out the institutions that are run on poor financial standards. And all of this may be done by Friday.

Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., testified to Congress on Tuesday and urged the exploration of options before the $700 billion buyout.

In response to the idea that we have to act now, Pence said, "The last time I heard that, I was on a used car lot. The truth is, every time somebody tells you that you've got to do the deal right now, it usually means they're going to get the better part of the deal."

I don't profess to be an expert in economics. What I do know, however, is that the thought process behind rashly promising $700 billion of taxpayers' money -- many of whose houses are in foreclosure -- is the same that got us into this mess in the first place.

Yes, we're only college kids. But you know what? The events in the upcoming weeks will affect our job market, our debt, our families and our livelihood. This is our economic crisis. Instead of sitting back, it's time to speak up, grow up and get educated.

Nicole Harris is the opinion editor for The Santa Clara.