Economic Worry and Success After Graduation

by Jordan Chapman

Today’s economy can be a tough subject to handle for many students and what’s worse, it affects them directly as graduating young people entering the labor force.

Sure, an Adelphi student can switch on a news channel or turn to their political leaders to hear them explain what’s going on in what some describe to be a rather chilly economical climate, but that can lead to biased and inaccurate information. So what’s really going on with today’s economy and how does it affect available jobs for the graduating Adelphi scholar? The masses beg for the truth.

Enter Visiting Professor Michael Driscoll and Associate Professor David Machlis, colleagues in the subject of accounting, finance and economics within the Robert B. Willumstad School of Business at Adelphi University.

Both professors agree that students with diplomas who live in an economically diverse area have a better chance of “passing GO and collecting $200.”

The numbers say it all. Dr. Machlis explains it like this: If you take and compare the unemployment rate of all high school and college graduates in the country, the high school graduates have the worse of it. Those with a high school diploma currently have an 8.1 percent unemployment rate, compared to 4.1 percent rate for those with a college degree.

The difference in percentages grows when comparing high school and college graduates 25 and under. The unemployment rate rises to 21 percent for high school graduates where as the number only goes up to 8.1 percent for those with a higher education. “(These numbers) indicate there are good results by going to school,” Dr. Machlis said.

On top of those statistics, Prof. Driscoll believes that the current economy isn’t in as bad a shape as some would have you believe. “It’s not as doom and gloom as some of the politicians and forecasters would have you expect,” he said, explaining that when he looks at how an ailing Europe and slightly stalling China are doing, the United States is actually holding up reasonably well.

“It’s been this bad before” he said, referencing the economy in World War II and an unemployment rate of more than 10 percent in 1982.

Prof. Driscoll drew much of his optimism from his 28 years spent working in the stock market.

“Historically, the stock market has been a pretty good six month lead indicator for what the overall economy would do,” he said, referencing year-to-date stock market numbers. Those reports listed the U.S. stock markets as being up 14 percent year-to-date and retaining the fifth best overall performance out of the world’s developed markets this year. So, according to Prof. Driscoll, things should continue to get better.

No matter the economic weather, both professors agree that the best way to beat the odds is to be a serious student and to work hard. “If you’re able to accumulate a wide range of knowledge, wouldn’t that help you adapt in a society that undergoes structural changes,” Dr. Machlis asked, while Prof. Driscoll felt that many students may also find solace in the wide range of opportunity and economical diversity they can find in the immediate area.