With the stock market plummeting and the unemployment rate climbing every day, Oxnard College opened the issue to the student body March 12.
“The Presidents Forum: Economic Crisis- Have we hit Bottom?” came to Oxnard College on Thursday, where California State University, Channel Islands economics professor Dr. Ashish Vaidya, Oxnard College economics professor Dr. Ishita Edwards and California Lutheran University finance professor Dr. Somnath Basu all spoke on the issue of the current state of the global economy.
“I was very pleased with the forum,” said college president Dr. Richard Duran, who gave an introduction before Vaidya took the podium. “I think our presenters broke down the economy very well.”
Each professor spoke and examined a specific part of the economy, with Vaidya looking at the current recession as a whole and comparing it to previous ones, Edwards looking at how the economy arrived at such a state in the first place, and Basu with a look ahead.
“This one recession, the one we are currently in, which began in late 2007, is quickly going to become the deepest and perhaps longest recession since the second World War,” said Vaidya.
He also addressed how the world has become intertwined economically and how America’s slump has hit other parts of the world just as hard.
“One of things that is most apparent to us now is that what started as a U.S. housing market bubble has quickly spread as a global financial crisis,’ said Vaidya. “Pretty much every country is experiencing a recession right now.”
Edwards addressed how we arrived at that point, going over how the crisis was caused by sub-prime mortgages, which was then deepened by a credit crunch and a liquidity crisis.
“All of this was done with the assumption that the housing market would keep rising,” said Edwards.
Towards the end of the forum, a question and answer session took place, with questions ranging from whether things will get better anytime soon to one student asking the professors if it was the right time to buy a house.
Vaidya answered the former question by saying that the next few months will be the best possible time for future homeowners to take the plunge.
As the economic crisis carries on, Basu left the audience with the viewpoint that if a recession was able to sneak up on them, it was also possible that very few people would know what the future holds.
“I can tell you that there are lies ahead,” said Basu. “If I were to know what lay ahead, I’d be a rich man. Because if anybody tells you they know what lies ahead, you know that is like a red flag. Get the heck out of there.”
Duran, speaking after the forum, echoed Basu’s statement.
“Look out for a lot of false prophets.”
