I really enjoyed some parts of the text this week… and others, well, not so much. Something that I saw very rarely, but really enjoyed, was reading about the media’s reactions to the looming crisis. There were a few different quotes that stuck out to me, but the main one came from more than halfway through the book: “The newspapers offered further evidence of the looming problems (257).” I think that this stuck out to me so much because all the “average Joe” knew about the financial market at the time was through the media; all the news came from either one biased report or another. The investors on Wall Street, however, didn’t need the media to connect them to the situation. They had evidence right in front of them of the situation happening and they never really did anything until it was too late. I also think back to what I knew of what was happening at the time: the media would report and stock tickers would run at the bottom, but I had no idea what they were talking about because they never chose to break it down. I think that the media definitely played a role in the financial crisis. Even though it couldn’t have caused a lot of change on Wall Street, it may have been able to educate the average person or the family getting the subprime loan about what is taking place in the financial world. Though many of the issues piled up in the end, I think that McLean fails to point any finger at the media and the fact that they did little to intercede on behalf of the public.
As for our discussion, I really liked what Amy started to say at the beginning of the discussion session. The question was posed, "What are your thoughts and opinions on the financial bailouts?" As everyone was talking about the banks and investors, Amy brought up the point that the media just talks about the corporations and investors... how does the bailout affect the average person?! I think much of the blame on the whole crisis can be put on not only lenders and investors, but also the average person. Building up credit and interest, we have been taught by our culture that it is okay to live beyond your means and greed has fueled our economy. I believe that McLean would say that this same greed is evident in the lenders and investors. However, the corporations got the bailout and the American people who could afford to borrow huge lumps of money went bankrupt. What is wrong with this picture? I think that this, too, has a connection to the media. The way they portray the ideal American way of life cause many to think that they can live like they want – i.e. see the film and tv industries. I think the process of educating Americans on the fact that they can’t live however they want or wherever they want has just started to be chiseled away at through the effects of this crisis, but it is going to take a great amount of energy and time by action groups and those who care about the issue to really gain strides in this issue anytime soon.
How does this relate to us as social studies teachers?? I think that it shows us that though economics can be overwhelming to teach and learn, it is something that can be broken down for our kids if we really understand it ourselves. When I was in an economics classroom for one of the observation sessions in the fall, I had a really hard time understanding the material and teaching about graphs and fancy words. I think that, though you may have a pacing guide or an AP test to get the students to pass, it is important to bring the topic back to them, show why it is relevant, and really exemplify what things they do from their end of the economic scale that affects the rest of the market.
How does this relate to us as social studies teachers?? I think that it shows us that though economics can be overwhelming to teach and learn, it is something that can be broken down for our kids if we really understand it ourselves. When I was in an economics classroom for one of the observation sessions in the fall, I had a really hard time understanding the material and teaching about graphs and fancy words. I think that, though you may have a pacing guide or an AP test to get the students to pass, it is important to bring the topic back to them, show why it is relevant, and really exemplify what things they do from their end of the economic scale that affects the rest of the market.
"Amy brought up the point that the media just talks about the corporations and investors... how does the bailout affect the average person?! I think much of the blame on the whole crisis can be put on not only lenders and investors, but also the average person."
ReplyDeleteThe media does not like to blame the "average person" since the average person are their viewers. Generally, people do not like to get insulted by the programs they watch :-). But I agree with your point that it would have been helpful to see the financial crisis from a complete perspective if the media had taken a more balanced approach to the narrative.
"I had a really hard time understanding the material and teaching about graphs and fancy words"
Economics was one of the hardest classes I had to teach, because so much of the standards required teaching the fancy words. I often had a difficult time making macroeconomic concepts into real-life applications for students. Understanding what the Federal Reserve does is important....But does the average high school student care? I had a difficult time convincing them it was important even with the financial crisis because it was very difficult for them to personally change the situation.