Look what I found — an old article of mine

Note: This article was originally published on Oct. 17, 2008 in The Lead, a student-run business magazine at the American University in Cairo. It was a rather unknown publication, without a Web site I can hyperlink to, but it was my first international publication. :) Also, it makes me want to go back to Egypt real bad!

American students watch out for US economy

By Sarah Rafique

As the economic crisis in the United States takes full swing and stock markets roller coaster, Americans studying in Egypt continue their daily routine with little concern about their spending habits abroad. Students do, however, voice concern about life when they return to the U.S.

“It’s a hot mess,” said Brian Jacek, a political science and Middle East studies major from Rochester, New York.

Jacek, as well as other Americans studying in Egypt, are keeping up with the U.S. news through online media as well as communication with family and friends.

“I’ve been following the stock market, because I feel that that’s the indicator that most news media outlets are using,” Jacek said. Gas prices are another way for the everyday person to gauge the economy.

“It’s very scary,” Jacek said. “It hasn’t affected my money situation necessarily in any way, however it’s made me worried with what’s happening back home.”

Whether you’re an American abroad or in the U.S., the situation may have been predictable, if not avoidable.

“I think that this whole thing is ridiculous,” said Felice Jackson, a Flagstaff, Arizona ALI student. “I think it’s ridiculous that people feel like it’s a surprise that the market crashed. This was coming and we knew it was coming.”

Jackson said anyone could have predicted the financial crisis.

“I think Americans have been fearful for a while and this is something that was bound to happen,” Jackson said. “I think if you look at any sort of historical records when the economy was running the way ours was, on no real money; just on a lot of borrowing, of course it’s going to crash,” Jackson said.

Jacek, and other study abroad students are worried about the bank in general, but also about student loans.

“The fact that a lot of our college funds are invested into stocks right now and we don’t know what the economy is going to be like when we go in the workforce [is a concern],” said Alex Bowles, an anthropology and political science major from Christiansburg, Virginia.

“My friends and I talk about it fairly often. I think everyone’s a little bit concerned about it,” Bowles said. “(But) it seems abstract because we’re not there; we’re not a part of it.”

Bowles thinks people need to be aware and concerned about the crisis, but that it will not affect her while she’s here in Egypt.

Jackson, who has been in Egypt since January, hasn’t been negatively affected by the U.S. economy because the exchange rate has slightly improved in her favor. “It’s going to be very difficult when I go back to the U.S. because the dollar will actually be worth a dollar and not five pounds,” Jackson said.

Rather than the everyday person, who is not immediately affected by or contributing to the crisis, major corporations are to blame, Jackson said.

“When people and banks of institutions are irresponsible with their money of course it’s going to crash, so it was sort of something inevitable,” Jackson said.

The past five to ten years of economic history has been “otherworldly,” Jackson said. “This is not the way the real world works, even in U.S.; even though we’re very wealthy.”

“People spend money exuberantly,” Jackson said. People allowed themselves to spend money they don’t even have by convincing themselves that they could earn money and spend money that they could never pay back.

“So, someone that makes $150,000 a year should never have allowed themselves to believe that they could afford a $300,000 house and a $50,000 car and credit cards, and all that.”

Though students aren’t paying attention to their spending habits abroad, some anticipate watching their money closely when they are back in the U.S. “I’m returning at what’s traditionally a very busy economic period—Christmas-time,” Jackson said. “I think I will spend less on gifts, parties, all the extras that accompany that time of year in the U.S.”

“This is a wake up call, and its reality and it’s good for the U.S.,” Jackson said. “[The economy] won’t be back where it was, but it will even out. It will become more realistic and I think more people will learn to better manage their assets.”