The Global Recession: A Look Back from an Ex-Non-Immigrant’s Eyes
Inspirations for this post include movies/documentaries like Capitalism: A Love Story, Inside Job, The Company Men and Up in the Air. The research also used news articles from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and BBC News.
In my second year of undergraduate studies in India I decided to go abroad for further studies. Like thousands of students across India I went through my word lists, brushed up my maths and went to the nearest testing center to give my GRE and TOEFL. At the end of the exams the screen showed me my tentative scores. The minute the number flashed up on the screen I knew my American dreams were on.
It was in August of 2006, a week before Indian Independence Day, I landed in the international terminal of JFK Airport. As I scampered with my friends through the busy terminal to catch the connecting flight, we couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment. As we flew over Buffalo I noticed the baseball fields underneath. I knew I was in U.S.A.! However this post is not about my studies, life in school or even my first job. But it is a commentary on the Great Recession that shrouded the country and keeps it wrapped underneath layers of debt. Perhaps it is the time of my life I would most vividly remember as an adult because I was part of this global phenomenon.
As I was making my way through school something ominous was bubbling in the US subprime lending credit market. According to an article in BBC the banking group, HSBC, warned about the slowing growth of the US housing market and increasing bad debts it was facing, which was in billions of dollars. Ironically HSBC was the bank that helped international students to open accounts and gave a credit card with a minuscule credit limit, which at the time still meant a sizable amount of dollars. While I was in my summer classes, New Century, a major subprime lender went bust. This was just the beginning of events that would ensue into the 'Great Recession' and would bend the backs of some of the most powerful economies.
I graduated in the December of 2007. This month is noted as the start of recession in US by the committee of National Bureau of Economics Research. According to the documentary, Inside Job, the recession finds its roots in the events that originated in the early 2000's. The movie passionately describes how the bad mortgages of the declining housing sectors were sold as highly complicated 'derivatives' (called Collateralized Debt Obligations or CDOs) to investors disguised as top rated investments. I didn't knew about CDOs nor was I interested in any subprime loans. But I was looking for a job. And boy, it was tough (and a market dry as a desert)!
Finally things began to improve around February of 2008 for me personally. I got a few interviews from industries like manufacturing and finance. The irony is that these two industries bore the brunt of recession. In the March of 2008 I found a job as an Industrial Engineering consultant in Ohio. As I went crisscrossing through manufacturing plants for my projects I saw the toll recession had taken on the manufacturing engine of America. The losses were in billions and job losses in thousands! The huge investment bank, Bear Sterns, was bought by JP Morgan in March against guarantee provided by the government for a cheap deal. I got my first subscription of Wall Street Journal around the same time (laughing now).
Things were fine until the chain of events that started in the September of 2008; these shook the foundations of economy and perhaps affected more lives than can be imagined. On September 15th Lehman Brothers went bankrupt after government refused to bail it out. Merrill Lynch got lucky; it was bought by Bank of America. Most of our generation would remember the images of Lehman Brother’s employees leaving their midtown Manhattan office in New York with boxes full of their belongings. Around the same time Big Three were closing tens of plants across United States. Even the foreign automobile had begun to feel the pinch and slowed down their production. Nissan, Toyota and Honda announced production cuts while GM, Ford and Chrysler laid off thousands more.
Then in the November of 2008 the recession touched me. I was among those who had to be let go. So when I was called in the room with HR I knew it was my time. I filed my time sheet for one last time and emptied the shelves to leave for my home. As I came out I called my father. The words that came out were strange but true, "Papa, I am now a part of the American recession." I had never felt part of America before. But now I felt part of this nationwide phenomenon that was touching all in the land of free. I was like thousands of Americans who had lost their job and were looking for the next ray of hope. I was finally a part of United States of America. Ironic but true.
It's been over couple of years since I lost my first job. Since then countless movies and documentaries have been made depicting the plight of the victims of recession. The recession is part of the global culture and millions of young adults have readjusted their plans. While the effect of recession is unimaginable but everyday people are waking up and realizing there is more to life than just surviving. Although some of us may concur with the words of Chris Cooper's character in 'The Company Men’, “My life ended and nobody noticed. However in the words of Bob Dylan (which I first heard in an incredible movie called 'It's kind of a funny story'),"He who isn't busy living is busy dying." So I am the director, actor, producer and audience of my life, so better make it a great one, the five star way I want to live! Too cheesy but that's the way I thought this post should end!
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