Faced with a myriad of problems in the U.S., the last thing Americans want to think about these days is the global economy.
People spend their lives constantly on-edge in regard to their finances. What many Americans don’t realize, however, is that this country is not the only one in the middle of a huge economic crisis.
With the value of the euro in a tailspin, Europe is dealing with its own financial predicament.
Spain and Greece have been hit particularly hard in the last few months. Economists calculate Spain’s unemployment rate to be close to 20 percent, and many of them are concerned that Greece’s escalating debts are affecting other members of the European Union.
In a Wall Street Journal article published Wednesday, Desmond Lachman of the American Enterprise Institute told reporter Stephen Fidler, “If Spain is in deep trouble, it will be difficult to hold the euro together … and my own view is that Spain is in deep trouble.”
According to experts from Wharton University, Latin American countries are being indirectly affected by the poor economies of Spain and the U.S.
Spain and the U.S. are home to more Latin American immigrant workers than any other country in the world, and many of those workers send money out of those countries to support their families.
As jobs in each country have dried up, less money has been flowing into the Latin American economies, and the countries have become more volatile.
Some experts even go as far as to argue that these remittance payments have kept many Latin Americans from falling into recession, and that these indirect consequences could be catastrophic.
Many Americans have been affected by the recession, whether from a lost job, high interest rates or some other reason.
Although a majority of college students have some grasp on the country’s dire economic situation, many of them know little about what’s going on in the rest of the world.
“I know a bit about the U.S. economy, but I don’t consider myself very knowledgeable about the global economy,” accounting junior Sana Khan said. “I would like to know more, but watching the news is just too stressful and time consuming.”
Investing time to learn about all of the bad news in the world can be exhausting, but it is well worth it. Though words such as “outsourcing” and “globalization” mean little to many people, it is important to learn how other economies affect America and vice versa.
Ideally, every UH student will graduate with a degree and job prospects.
In order to truly be successful, however, everyone needs to be knowledgeable about how his or her professions and finances are affected by the world.
Liz Price is a communication junior and may be contacted at [email protected]
