I'm just going to straight-up say it: The financial crisis of 2008 and what led up to it confuse the living crap out of me. Maybe I am just not as smart as I like to think I am, but trying to read through some of "All the Devils Are Here" and even just reading through reviews and descriptions of the book...I was lost almost immediately. Trying to keep up with all the names of the various companies, all the terms for different financial practices, and what exactly those practices are was a headache, and I like to avoid headaches as much as possible. If this book has taught me anything, (besides my own clear inadequacy in this field of knowledge), it has taught me that this is an extremely difficult subject to teach. When even I, a 22-year-old college graduate who intends to teach other people for a living, is stumbling pathetically through a topic, even with the help of good teachers like Louis, Jason, and Gary trying to help me along, it stands to reason that at least some kids in a classroom, anywhere from twelve to eighteen years of age, are going to have just as much--if not more--trouble with the topic as I do. It has taught me that I will need to put in tons of time and effort in order to make sure I not only have a handle on difficult information, but can explain it in a clear, concise, easy-to-follow way. This applies not only to this topic, (and good God, do I need to do some serious prepping there if I ever have to teach this), but any and all difficult topics we may come across as teachers.
As for the discussion of the book, Louis, Jason and Gary asked the following question after listing a quote that talks about how it used to be that what was good for a lending institution was also good for the borrower, but new practices have made that relationship much more vague:
"With
such an abstract relationship between borrowers and lenders emerging in the
late 20th century, should anyone have been surprised by the recent
financial crisis? Can a system in which
lenders have no stake in borrowers being able to make their payments ever hope
to succeed on any level?"
As I mentioned during our BBB session, I think there are two ways to interpret such an abstract relationship. On the one hand, something being out of your hands can be seriously worrisome; you don't know what's going on and you don't really have any control over it, and that's not usually a happy feel. However, on the other hand, what you can't see can't hurt you, right? So if something is out of your control, why worry about it? Let things happen as they will. This latter attitude may have been part of what lending companies were feeling about the situation, and why they continued to lend money even though they had no stake in their borrowers' abilities, (or lack thereof), to pay back their loans. And of course, for awhile, that was fine, but playing the "I don't see you" game can only last for so long.
Beth, I wouldn't worry very much about not knowing all the technical terms or feeling lost when trying to remember the names and the terms presented in the book. What is important is the broad picture and that we, at a minimum, understand what happened, why it happened, and how to prevent it from occurring again. This book was not intended for a high school audience and maybe not even for all college students. However, the outline and definitions that the group gave, in my opinion, would be sufficient to use in a class setting. Also, I watched the interview with the author and that really helped because who better to simplify the book then she. Anyway, I think you underestimate yourself, especially since you taught economics already. However, I'm speaking from my perspective, which I have been interested in finance, stock markets, and economics since high school, so I find this information interesting. Ultimately, my interest stems from the realization that I want to retire as early as possible and to do so I need to understand how to invest properly.
ReplyDeleteI think we do our students a disservice by not teaching them about economics and investing in High school. So many Americans claim ignorance about topics such as taxes, stock market, and personal finance. However because of the recession, many people are scared of investing and think that hiding money is a better solution. We all know that money is worthless unless the market says it is worth something. We can't let a natural correction of bad decisions affect our national outlook on investing. Anyway, I'm sure you know more then you are leading on. If you have to teach this subject you will be fine.
holla
Beth I was going through a bunch of blog posts from our fellow (citizens) classmates and I realized a lot of them approached these blog posts the same way. Most tried to regurgitate some facts from the book and analyze the book on a factual level. When I was sitting in the Big Blue Button discussion equally confused and overwhelmed Matt asked a good question about what exactly we are supposed to take from this class. Dr. Washington said that it is supposed to help us communicate and understand ideas in a collaborative environment. What you said in your post is a bit of honesty, and I appreciate you having the guts to flat out say "I was confused". We need to realize our limitations as teachers and if something is out of our range of expertise we shouldn't be afraid to say so. That being said, I think Brad brought up some great points. We do not do a good enough job teaching our students about economics in school. In my economics class all my teacher did was show movies and we all slept. I think it needs to be taken a little more seriously because as you can see from the book all it takes is a mass of uninformed people to think they are financially stable enough to take out loans and mortgages and pop the housing bubble.
ReplyDeleteYea, you are not alone in the whole confusion aspect. I was one of those people who tried to regurgitate facts but it is still confusing. I think I have a very brief and shallow understanding, thanks to the BBB session, but other than that, the nitty gritty can easily escape the mind. If we cannot understand it, what hope do our students have? Even the "experts" probably do not understand it completely.
ReplyDeleteAs to your answer tot he question. It reminds me of the Simpson's episode, when Homer was the garbage coordinator, or something like that maybe Mayor, and his platform was "Can't someone else do it?" Needless to say the result was disastrous. That is what I feel happened when the passing of the buck was allowed. When asked if they would stop the buck, they answered "can't somebody else do it?"
If we could just start teaching "consumer economics" when students are young and not wait till 12th grade!
ReplyDelete