Recent college graduates ready to tackle the world of employment should look to Europe as an indicator of what lies ahead economically. An article in the Fairfield Minuteman “Economic issues overseas drag down U.S. Stock Market” by Frank Szivos pointed to the influence of the Greek debt crisis on the rest of Europe and subsequently our economy in the United States.
“The Greek debt crisis is a serious issue,” Dr. Micheal Tucker, Fairfield University professor of Finance, told the Minuteman. “Several European banks hold large chunks of the Greek debt. If it defaults that could be a bad situation for Europe and us. The influence of events elsewhere are correlated and connected to us, too.”
Experts are saying that in this global economy, we are not isolated. Trouble oversees will most likely mean trouble for us. Although the Dow Jones is recovering crashing 1,000 last week, a turn taken due to the Greek debt crisis, the fact remains that the U.S. economy is still threatened by crises abroad. While the outlook seems to be getting better, job searches should be wary.
“Hiring has been improving” Tucker told The Mirror, “but this is also drawing more people back into the job market increasing the unemployment rate. For graduating seniors, this is a positive sign. Though there will competition for positions with experienced job seekers, it’s not unusual for employers to prefer new graduates for many positions. On the negative side, there is a possibility of a double dip recession.
Philip Lane, professor of Economics at Fairfield University, says that all focus should not be placed outwards, but attention should also be drawn to the problems that are occurring on the state level in the U.S.
“While it is convenient to talk about the ‘other,’ we face several challenges here,” Lane said. “Currently, we have several states in the US that are facing ‘fiscal imbalances.’ Given the weakness of their local economy, with special emphasis on housing values, tax revenues have dropped significantly while expenditures have not slowed at anything near the same rate. The resulting fiscal imbalances in California [for example] are compounded by the contracts that were negotiated many years ago.”
When asked how this might relate to the state of Connecticut in particular, Lane said “I have seen some estimates that raise some financial challenges for some of the large cities. The state government will need to address the challenges of imbalances between those contributing to the system and those drawing from the system.”
Although the market seems have a better outlook than in the past couple of years, Tucker warns that this is not enough to become comfortable. As he told the Minuteman, “There are signs that we are doing a lot better, but it’s not sufficient. Even little shocks get people anxious.”
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