RECESSION PANIC MEGAPOST: Bad economy threads go here! Forum

[CE2JD]

thcanadianlawpost.com site offers good info for people researching the canadian judicial system i used it on a paper for my law and society class says theyre still buliding but i like it so far

I use thecanadianlawpost to wipe my ass.

[laidoffjournalist]

So, I've been reading this thread. What's the synopsis? If you are trying to get into law school next year, you're an idiot?

Hey, I'd go into health care, but I hate sick people and I'm really bad at math and chemistry. If only being a good writer was still a useful quality.

[legalese_retard]

Tough Times For Harvard Lawyers
--LinkRemoved--

The stock market has gone up and down, but for decades at Harvard Law School, one thing has remained the same: job security.

“As a Harvard student, you feel entitled to get a job, and you ignore these dire reports on CNN,” one student told the Crimson in February after the Harvard Law School’s peak recruiting season had passed her by and left her without a job. “You think that things will work out like every other year.”

Sound familiar?

[YCrevolution]

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[YCrevolution]

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[tenderbooger]

I need money. Panic.

[Oban]

[CE2JD]

This is the best post in this thread.

[stateofbeasley]

The biglaw people know that the game is up, and the student loan bubble is going to cause horrendous damage to people's finances, even for some who may in past years have had a shot at biglaw:

http://www.abajournal.com/news/kl_gates ... econsider/

The chairman of K&L Gates says would-be lawyers should think twice before going to law school.
...

The Wall Street Journal asked Kalis whether college graduates should think twice before heading off to law school, given cuts in law firm hiring. He replied this way:

“Yes. The business model of the U.S. law school doesn't quite make sense to me. Law schools will bring you in from college and educate you, but they will encumber you with six-figure indebtedness at a tender age.

“The assumption was that there was no problem, because law firms like K&L Gates would pay that off for you. And that is where the wheels are falling off.

“I've heard that law school applications are actually increasing. We will be pouring tens of thousands of young people into a market that I suspect is not going to be able to absorb them at the remuneration levels that would have justified them taking on that debt.”

Law school just isn't worth it for most people. It was bad when I graduated from Temple in 2006. Something like 40% of the class didn't have a job at graduation and this was in good times.

[mtyrikos]

This is an interesting time, no doubt. I don't, however, think it's unique within the scope of history and so on.

There's a consistent, almost predictable track record of how economies are first expanded and then invariably contracted; for instance, ever since the federal reserve act of 1913, it's been fairly easy for a central bank to manipulate these things when the entire economy is predicated on credit.

How does it go... "Give me control of a nation's money supply, and I care not who makes its laws?"

The top of the "pyramid," is most definitely the central banking system and any government, corresponding laws and yes, economies, will develop but only if they are in line with the agenda and interests behind central banks. If they get out of control or if they expand too fast or power/influence is becoming less centralized then it's quite easy to manufacture a collapse if you control the medium of exchange (and supply of it) that the entire economy relies on.

This isn't a "secret" or "conspiracy theory," in fact it's a virtually self evident truth if you simply take an honest look at how the entire system functions. I think the largest issue that lead to today is that Wall Street took too much advantage during the period of relatively unregulated markets and the entire sytem had to be "corrected." The leveling we're experiencing in the economy now is a figurative "cracking of the whip," so to speak and economies will rebuild, slowly, but with more centralized control.

[babaghanouj]

Thanks Obama...

[coherentowst]

This is an interesting time, no doubt. I don't, however, think it's unique within the scope of history and so on.

There's a consistent, almost predictable track record of how economies are first expanded and then invariably contracted; for instance, ever since the federal reserve act of 1913, it's been fairly easy for a central bank to manipulate these things when the entire economy is predicated on credit.

How does it go... "Give me control of a nation's money supply, and I care not who makes its laws?"

The top of the "pyramid," is most definitely the central banking system and any government, corresponding laws and yes, economies, will develop but only if they are in line with the agenda and interests behind central banks. If they get out of control or if they expand too fast or power/influence is becoming less centralized then it's quite easy to manufacture a collapse if you control the medium of exchange (and supply of it) that the entire economy relies on.

This isn't a "secret" or "conspiracy theory," in fact it's a virtually self evident truth if you simply take an honest look at how the entire system functions. I think the largest issue that lead to today is that Wall Street took too much advantage during the period of relatively unregulated markets and the entire sytem had to be "corrected." The leveling we're experiencing in the economy now is a figurative "cracking of the whip," so to speak and economies will rebuild, slowly, but with more centralized control.

The counterexample to this theory is Japan from 1990 on. Their government spent money like water; their central bank borrowed money and attempted to dilute the currency for years; yet their economy basically never grew and even faced significant deflation at times. Their stock market was around 40,000 in 1989 and hit 8,000 20 years later in 2008 (very rough numbers). Real estate prices suffered a similar fate.

I think economic forces are far less under the control of central powers than we are led to believe.

[YCrevolution]

..

[coherentowst]

Yes, thanks.

[CE2JD]

The psychological "control" of the central bank on the economy is infinitely greater than any other control it has over the economy.

[mtyrikos]

The psychological "control" of the central bank on the economy is infinitely greater than any other control it has over the economy.

And to that I'd argue psychological control is greater than any other variety.... ask a trader, for example, what influences markets more, sentiment/emotion or actual facts. Facts, reason, logic, etc.... all spectacularly trivial relative to perception from the point of view of controlling someone or a system/game that people participate in. (which the market certainly is)

Has anyone heard of the book "The Money Game" -it's by Adam Smith, but not THE Adam Smith. (he used it as a pseudonym) Fantastic book - it talks about these things.

[soulplaya]

I guess it's just a realization that most people need to grasp. There are wayyyyyy too many law schools out there, and they're accepting wayyyyy too many people whose qualifications are low. If you can't get into a tier 1, or at the very least, a tier 2 school, then you shouldn't go. The standards need to be raised, not at the top, but at the bottom.

[tenderbooger]

Watched Capitalism: A Love Story last night and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Dead peasants!

[bumblebeetoona]

Thanks Obama...

Obama wasn't president when the stimulus bill was passed. Nice try, though!

[Bronte]

Thanks Obama...

Obama wasn't president when the stimulus bill was passed. Nice try, though!

Edit: nevermind.

[babaghanouj]

Thanks Obama...

Obama wasn't president when the stimulus bill was passed. Nice try, though!

Er... really?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29231790/

If you actually look at the graph, you'll see that everything in blue was created by Obama's econ team. They used this graph and others to sell everyone their recovery plan (by showing how bad it would otherwise get). The image just epitomizes the over-optimism of team Obama. Does this mean O is the only one to blame? Nope. Is it nevertheless particularly damning for a pres who built much of his campaign on economic recovery? Yup.

[Kronk]

I was going to say, I WATCHED Obama sign that bill last Spring. Anyhow, I know Bush signed something similar (but smaller).

[j2d3]

HOLY SH*T!!!

"At Northwestern University Law School, at least three-quarters of students who graduated in May had their employment deferred, in some cases up to a year, says Bill Chamberlain, head of the school's career center."

Quote from a business-week article: "The Lost Generation" - currently on Huffington Post.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/co ... page_2.htm

[david33mba]

For those of us who currently have decent paying jobs, going to law school is looking more like a questionable idea each day...

Thoughts from others in the same boat?

[laidoffjournalist]

Yes, all of you should skip 2010 and leave some slots open for laid off losers like me.