That number is how much money was lost in the stock market yesterday -- 1.2 Trillion dollars! It makes it clear that we need to step away from the lectern, as it were, and have a very serious conversation with students to help them connect the dots from Wall Street to the prospects of their careers in hospitality industry in the near, and quite possibly long term. Reason being, HR forecasters are probably going to change the assumptions they had for the economy which will no doubt lead to a hiring freeze and reduction of new hires until the economy gets back on track -- we hope -- meaning fewer jobs come December 2008 and May 2009 graduation! It also means that those wanting to have their own restaurant will find it absolutely difficult to find financing for what most banks already perceive to be risky investments even in good times. The ramifications go on and on.
It is also a great time to have students comprehend the reason the global financial network was effected like a tsunami yesterday when the bailout bill failed to pass (right or wrong) in the House which lead to a huge drop in the value of financial instruments and institutions on Wall Street that dropped the stock prices of every stock market around the globe as they were able to open for trading.
So the time for provincialism should be tempered with the sobriety of the way in which the world is inextricably linked together for good or ill and unless our students clearly grasp that they are going to find themselves ill-equipped to handle the economic reality of tomorrow, which is at our doorstep today.
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