Managing Risk in our Global Society

"C.R.E.A.M. get the money Here we here we go
dolla dolla bill y'all Check this s*it, yo!"
- Wu Tang Clan
I chose the quote because this lecture was about managing money, mainly how the United States has been unable to do so. I know almost nothing about money or the economy (I just have a couple bucks in my "secret stash"), so I hoped that this wouldn't be so far over my head that I couldn't learn anything...
The lecturer, a UPitt professor, argued that if the US can repair its economic health-care and educational core it may be able to sustain certain advantages in a globally competitive society. The speaker took an extremely strong stand against the current state of affairs, and given his evidence, it is hard to disagree. He believed that globalization has the potential to bring benefits to the developed and undeveloped world, but we must rework our current agenda for spending. He proposed re-investing into education and health-care, and creating a system that will someday be able to sustain itself. He was very critical of Americans for their lack of "economic literacy," our superfluous spending, and our inability to invest and save.
Before this lecture, I was aware the economy wasn't doing "too well." However, the speaker (probably a little biased and critical) shredded the US government for it's expense management policies, solution driven legislation, public education funding, and dependence on trading revenues. Currently, the G-20 makes up 80% of global wealth, the top 20% of Americans make up 84.7% of the nation's wealth, while the bottom 40% make up .2%. While more and more students are graduating from colleges, the gap between the graduates and non-graduates is becoming more and more insurmountable- tuition prices of both public and private universities were 3x more expensive than twenty years ago.These startling numbers show how drastic the differences are between the upper-middle classes and the lower class. I was aware of the huge class differences, but these statistics make it much more realistic.There is definitely potential for circles of poverty, as it is becoming increasingly difficult for the poor & uneducated to rise through the ranks. I don't think I'll ever fully understand this; I had the privilege of attending an independent high school and now a private university. No amount of empathy will allow us to understand the poverty of America's poorest members.
The lecturer was also extremely critical of the current health-care system. He listed several countries (US, Great Britain, Switzerland, and a few others), and pointed out that we spend significantly more per capita on health-care than these countries, but we still have the highest infant mortality rate of the group. Clearly, there are a significant number of changes that can be made to improve our nation.
I felt pretty bad about my uneducated, middle-class self by the end of this lecture. Well actually, I didn't even get to the end of the lecture. It was supposed to be an hour, and he had only begun to talk about healthcare at 90 minutes. So I never got to hear his resolution- he was far too busy pointing out the (many) flaws with our current system, who knows if he has any resolution (a few adults fell asleep- I can proudly say I did not!)