Wednesday, August 19, 2009

The Debts of the Spenders: US College Graduates Face Miserable Prospects

Bad news for a consumer oriented economy. Americans have long been reknown for living from paycheck to paycheck. But an extended period of poor employment prospects will depress their discretionary spending power.

The other takeaway here is something that many parents have long chided their children on:
liberal arts/humanity degrees are a waste of time and money unless you graduated from an Ivy League institution (in which case you don't have to do anything except breathe). Instead, the majors that lead to the quickest job transition are areas that parents - particularly immigrant parents - have long known about: hard sciences and engineering. There is also another path not mentioned in the article - trade school. A technical degree can be immensely valuable right away as it prepares graduates for a job and indeed forces them to learn entrepreneurial skills almost right away.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124181970915002009.html
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