Words and Light

Long story short, I am kind of obsessed with the economy.

More than a few of my friends, classmates and coworkers can testify to this.

In fact, when my Facebook status a few days ago was “Chris congratulates the Dow for its 3.3 percent growth today!,” one of my coworkers in the Jeff City bureau commented with, “haha, when I heard this on the radio earlier today, I thought of you :)”

I wasn’t always like this.

[Note: This is kind of a self-indulgent entry, wherein I am mostly musing about how I came to enjoy (understatement?) reading about and reporting on economics and finances.]

I used to have the same aversion to economic and financial reporting as I did to political reporting. (See the second half of this post for an explanation of my prior aversion to political reporting.)

Then, in mid-September, the stock market plummeted, Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, Bank of America purchased Merrill Lynch and the Fed bailed out A.I.G. Suddenly, all I could read were reports, analysis and op-ed about the sudden tailspin in which the economy was caught. I talked to a business professor to get his take on things, and was brought up to speed a little by a friend who is majoring in economics. I even wrote an article about how the crisis pertained to Missouri’s state economy. Learning about and reading everything pertaining to the economy actually became more important than keeping myself updated on the presidential general election.

Finally, this semester, I registered to take two economics classes: Econ 3224: International Economics and Econ 3229: Money, Banking and Financial Markets.

After several fellow journalism students and I had suffered a nearly disastrous run of Econ 1014: Principles of Microeconomics in freshman year, these same students said I was crazy for attempting two 3000-level economics courses in one semester. They were right. I eventually dropped Econ 3224.

But thank goodness for Econ 3229. I’d already known a fair amount about the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department, from all the media readings I’d done in the fall. But please indulge my dorkdom and hear me out: it is so nice to have a class that teaches you about the U.S.’s banking structure and financial system. Granted, I probably could have learned all this on my own, but perhaps not with the same depth and rigor with which this class is being taught.

That said, I’m not doing very well in the course. I did abysmally on the first exam, and am now beginning to study for the second exam — which is in two weeks. But while this class may negatively impact my GPA, I am still so glad I’m in the class.

Why?

Because now I feel so much more prepared as the Jeff City’s beat reporter on the state budget and economy.

Because now I can read Paul Krugman’s NYTimes.com blog and understand (almost) everything that he says.

Because now I can read Floyd Norris’s NYTimes.com blog and understand (almost) everything that he says.

Because now I can read Steven Pearlstein’s Washington Post column and understand (almost) everything that he says.

Because now I can read the Wall Street Journal‘s market data and understand (almost) everything that is reported, graphed, charted and listed.

Because now I can look at various official documents (which I’ve made available on this blog and listed below, by entry) and know exactly what they mean, as well as what’s important and what’s not.

• Details of the federal stimulus’ impact on Missouri state budget –Includes a breakdown of a 13-page document made available by the Budget Office under Gov. Jay Nixon’s Office of Administration.
• For posterity: full copy of Obama’s FY2010 budget overview — Includes a Scribd document reader of President Barack Obama’s complete FY2010 budget plan.
• Official recommendations for implementing federal stimulus funds in and for Missouri — Includes a 17-page report by the now-defunct Missouri Economic Stimulus Coordination Council on how Missouri should handle the $4 billion (and more) that can be expected from the federal government.

Because now I’m just more aware/understanding of and familiar with a vital force in our nation and the world. As cheesy as that sounds.

A year ago — even six months ago — I wouldn’t have predicted this interest and near-obsession. Oh well.

And, for those who may be doubting (including some of my friends, coworkers, classmates and even my editor), yes — I am still a photojournalism major. My interest in the economy and subsequent enjoyment in reporting on it do not preclude me from pursuing photojournalism as my undergraduate degree or future career.

That is all.