Students Slam Wall Street 'Greed'

The current financial crisis is doing wonders for Zachary C. Arnold’s collection—he collects pictures of “stockbrokers looking sad.”

“I’ve been doing this for a couple years,” said the junior social studies concentrator. “There’s always some picture of some stockbroker looking sad in front of a crashing stock market. Sometimes it’s the same person.”

While the severity of the crisis is by no means lost on some Harvard students, this sense of schadenfreude is being expressed by a number of undergraduates.

“I do think this is karma for people who thought their career plans were more concrete than mine, that I was building my dreams on a cloud for studying humanities,” Julienne R. Coleman ’11 said. “Now we’re all on the same level. We’re all unsure about the future.”

The perspective was echoed by Rashaud A. Senior ’11, who said, “Now they are paying what they owe. They shouldn’t have been so damn greedy.”

Zach P. Hughes ’12 said that while it may feel good to see Wall Street titans fall, that attitude “ignores the actual plight of the people.”

“Their houses get foreclosed and they’re not involved in the discussion,” he said. “I get really upset that the bailout that’s seeking to remedy the situation doesn’t change the systematic problems.”

Five students interviewed by The Crimson called for a broad-based change to economic policy, and criticized the bailout for not addressing the systemic issues that have caused the financial crisis.

Keith B. Doelling ’11 said that “the $700 billion bailout is a giant band-aid on a huge gash.”

“We’re maintaining the status quo. We’re grasping onto something that’s not there. I don’t know if it’s the best idea.”

“Ideally, we should bailout the people who were affected,” he added. “This problem has to do with the government’s policies, especially those of the past eight years, but really since the advent of Reaganomics.”

Several students said it was too early to tell how the financial crisis would affect their lives. “Is this Armageddon or will this be fixed in five years?” Doelling asked.

The students said that the financial crisis was not affecting their daily lives. “There’s no real pressure on my habits,” Abraham Lin ’10 said.

But at least one graduating senior said that the financial crisis is affecting his life in a very tanginle way.

“I’m applying for jobs right now and there’s a lot more competition and there are fewer jobs so things are more stressful,” Kyle E. D. Wiggins ’09 said. “I’m looking for jobs in finance, consulting, and private equity, but because of the financial crisis I’m looking at Teach for America and thinking about going abroad.”

Despite the uncertainty, Wiggins ended on an upbeat note.

“The crisis was caused by some people on Wall Street being irresponsible and taking big risks and the economy is being held accountable,” he said, before adding with a smile, “but that’s life.”