Tuesday afternoon, a slew of Columbians filled Low Rotunda to learn a thing or two about the global economy from José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the Spanish Prime Minister. The flags of Spain, the U.S., and Columbia were arranged behind the podium to welcome the leader (who does kind of resemble Mr. Bean!) to speak on “The New Economic Order and the Millennium Development Goals.”

Zapatero. /wikimedia

Interpreting devices lined the chairs of the full auditorium, which led to several audible remarks along the lines of, “I wonder if he’s going to speak in Spanish!” If the technological clues were not enough, a woman announced shortly thereafter that Zapatero would, indeed, be giving the speech in his native tongue, then proceeded to connect the audience to an automated messaging system instructed us to dial “1” for English and “2” for Español.

Four speakers comprised the line-up of the longest and most built-up introduction of all time, all referencing the goals of the UN’s Millennium project:

First, provost Claude Steele spoke on how the “responsibility of a global center of learning” such as Columbia to provide a venue in which “difficult conversations are encouraged and respected” is crucial in today’s world, where we sometimes compromise the discussion of real issues for the sake of political correctness.

Next J-Sachs quipped, “I can’t tell you how much fun it is to have you in our home.” Read more…

College students have known for some time in the pit our of collective stomach that getting a job after graduation would be tough for the class of ’09. But today Time confirmed our fears with a comprehensive survey of hiring changes in many industries and, as the author puts it, it’s looking “grimmer than ever.”

According to the article, even grimmer than earlier this year; many companies surveyed reported a significant change in the number of hires now compared to October. But most just reported a plain, simple, and steep decline in the number of 2009 grads they would be hiring compared to last year.

Big surprise – the loss of 71% of the expected job openings in the finance is the highest of any industry. High losses were also found in “professional services,” including accounting and engineering. Shockingly, the government is hiring! And it’s pretty much the only employer with an increase in job openings from previous years.

Of course, schools are scrambling to find jobs for their graduates through alumni networking, widely seen as one of the only ways to beat the bear market. That’s two reasons to send your resume to Washington, kids. If you need a third, Time predicts that many seniors who don’t snag a job will end up working at Starbucks after graduation. People will always need caffeine.

Ah, memories of when money grew on trees: a study by the Council for Aid to Education determined that Columbia raised $495.11 million in Fiscal Year 2008, an increase of 17% over FY 2007, good for third in the country. The only two schools to raise more money than Columbia? Stanford ($785.04 million) and Harvard ($650.63 million). 

Overall, the 1,052 institutions in the report raised $31.6 billion, an increase of 6.2%. However, that number may be the last increase for several years, as Ann Kaplan, the director of the study, told the Wall Street Journal that many institutions “hit a wall” at the start of the year. Kaplan also predicts that the new year could see the steepest year-to-year decline in decades. So if you see one of these people, consider giving them a hug. Seeing Manhattanville in your lifetime could depend on it.

- JCD

Fewer jobs, but more internships.

Major business, but minor interest.

No longer mediocre, but still quite peculiar.

The vacancy is filled, but the hole in our hearts remains.

Escaping the present, but stuck in the past.

As you may or may not know, our 


Fearless Leader recently spent some time at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and while he was there, he said several clever things to his fellow delegates.  The Financial Times Blog found his comments punchy enough to post.  Some of PrezBo’s sagacity:

“All of the discussions over the last several years of an assumed “decoupling” of the rest of the world from the US economy today sound about as quaint as the purring of praise for unmediated free markets. We are in a global recession, and we are all inter-connected in ways that we barely understand or can imagine. Clearly, we need to know much, much more than we do about what is happening in the world, so that we can better act to avert dangers and build successfully on what has been achieved.  That is the basic role of journalism and the press.”

Just grin and eBear it.

She has her cupcake and eats it, too.

Every cloud has a silver line of scrimmage.

You can lead a horse to Tokyo Pop, but you can’t make him drink.

Spec hops on the bandwagon.

Columbia economist and Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz recently spoke at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland. In interviews at the week-long summit, Stiglitz has called for more government action, labelling current public economic stimulus “totally inadequate.” He advocates a less taxcut-based stimulus plan in the United States. He also predicted a global trend toward social welfare states common in Europe.

“There will be more emphasis on the welfare state,” he said. “But there will also be more emphasis on incentives within the welfare state.”

The conference is normally an opportunity for business titans and world leaders to pat themselves on the back for successful free market growth, but in this year’s gloomy climate, Stiglitz is sure to garner attention.   

PrezBo had already “conceded that the endowment was down” at his last fireside chat, but now Bwog has some information on the scale of the damage:

At the University Senate’s monthly plenary on Friday, PrezBo told the Senate that, over the fiscal year, Columbia’s endowment has lost “about the same” percentage as Harvard’s, which lost 22% of its value in the first four months of the new fiscal year. 

He declined to give more specific figures at the public plenary, but Bwog has been told that the number may be a little less than Harvard’s — somewhere around 20%. More specific figures should be coming in the near future. Regardless, the loss marks a steep fall from last fiscal year’s 2% rise

A tipster has just forwarded the following PrezBo Communique to Bwog, in which your President assures recipients that despite the terrifyingly awful economy—PrezBo refers to it as “a landscape largely defined by uncertainty,” but a crisis by any other name…—Columbia will be just fine, thank you.

For one thing, the University is still ahead of schedule Capital Campaign-wise, with over $3 billion in the bank. Still, expect the grant enviornment to “deteriorate further.” 

Regarding financial aid, PrezBo writes: “Let me also make clear that we will not permit the economic downturn to affect Columbia’s long-standing commitment to need-blind admissions and the meeting of full financial need in student aid for undergraduates in the College and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.  We will also work to sustain, and when possible enhance, current levels of financial aid in other schools and programs.”

Full email after the jump.

Read more…

A state plan to revitalize the lifeblood of Harlem.

An Abyssinian white tie extravaganza celebrates Rev. Butts’ service.  The Clintons have always been known to throw a good party.

TFA and the economy make altruism sexy again.

Seniors will have none of the economy’s doom and gloom when tackling the job market this year.

BaseNow and Barnard, a partnership by (and for) design.

In which Lecture Hop Editor Pierce Stanley takes in the second of two economic forums held at Columbia last night.

Another spectacle of epic proportions has come and passed in Roone Arledge Auditorium.  Yet, last night’s Presidential Economic Forum courtesy of Columbia’s Program for Economic Research and co-sponsored by the Economics Department, the Committee on Global Thought, and the Business School seemed to pass quietly into the night with a whimper far more than with a bang.  While not quite on the level of spectacle that characterized the original Obamacain affair, yesterday’s Presidential Economic Advisors Forum, which pitted self proclaimed “data hound” Austan Goolsbee, Senior Economic Advisor of the Obama-Biden ticket and former Director of the Congressional Budget Office Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Chief Economic Advisor of the McCain-Palin camp against a serious panel of Columbia Economics department heavy-hitters, including Professors Richard Clarida, Janet Currie, Joe Stiglitz, and Michael Woodford, resembled a high school policy debate round moderated by a panel of seriously pretentious judges more than a forum of any academic import with serious implications for the fate of the economy. Read more…

Daily Editor Eliza Shapiro reports from the Economics Forum today that wasn’t this Economics Forum. 

“Macro people think they know everything about everything” the man seated behind us at this afternoon’s Earth Institute-sponsored “Can We Save the World Economy?” lecture grumbled. Bwog nodded our heads appreciatively and applauded PrezBo alongside a Miller Theater entirely packed with Economist-reading fiends as the lights dimmed and the talk began. 

Our faithful leader introduced the participants: moderator John Roberts of CNN, and economists George Soros of the Open Society Institute, Nouriel Roubini of the Stern School of Business at NYU, and the dreamy Jeffrey Sachs, of whom Bwog is sure you are more than aware. Roberts took the stage and began by informing the audience that the Dow had risen 400 points that day and shouted “crisis averted! We’re cutting you all loose for the rest of the afternoon!” The audience roared. This was to be a long afternoon.

Read more…

Pretty building on campus exists for a reason

Dates set-ish for Manhattanville, something should happen somewhere possibly in Spring 2009

CU grad schools prefer if grad students take grad student classes, undergrads get fussy

Feast your eyes: 800 words on why the economic crisis is actually a good thing. Finally, no CU student will want to go into finance, and we can all just sit around talking about Plato all day, everyday, forever!

“Inky whirls reminiscent of jazz music”, art that has “more right to exist than actual people and things,” all in Dodge!

The B-schoolers aren’t the only ones effected by the recent economic downturn.  It turns out undergrads are too! Instead of offering advice on how to save money, this week Bwog on a Budget returns with a special money-making feature. 

The long and the short of it is simple: Bwog is broke.  Given our economic state, there’s little sense in discussing how to save money since there’s no money to be saved.  Yes, indeed the time has come for Bwog to make some money. But when the times are tough, finding work is hard.   And finding work is especially hard for Columbia students, who not only prefer not to waste their talent doing remedial labor but also have their cumbersome class schedules to take into account.  And while the minority of employed folks may receive a steady flow of cash each month, by October 18th, September’s paycheck certainly must have diminished.

Bwog’s done some research and discovered that Columbia’s most lucrative resource is just where you’d expect to find lucrative things and people.  Tucked away on the second floor of the business school library is Columbia’s Behavioral Research Lab.   If you are desperate enough, Bwog understands and suggests you sign up to receive the Behavioral Research Lab‘s bi-weekly announcements. 

Read more…

Last time we checked in with our pals over at the Business School, things weren’t looking too hot. Since today was the first good day in a long, long time, Bwog headed over to Uris when the stock market closed this afternoon to see what we could find.

B-Schoolers were clustered around the televisions in the lobby, reading the headlines on the 11.6% gain and the European summit this weekend and chatting happily. The powers that be had wisely chosen this particular day to sell Business School merchandise, and Bwog noted long lines of students shelling out $50 for backpacks.

We asked a vendor clad in a B-school T-shirt that read “we’re the GBA, and we’re here to serve you!” if the mood had been a little more cheerful around school today. “It’s hard to say for sure,” he began. We gave him a few moments, and he lifted his head after stacking another $20 bill into his collection. “But yeah,” he continued, and Bwog may have seen a twinkle in his weary B-school eyes, “yeah, a definitely little bit.”