Editor's Letter: When bad news is also good news
There is—there really is—a silver lining in the Wall Street meltdown.
First the bad news: The Wall Street meltdown has resulted in thousands fewer well-paying jobs for the new crop of top college graduates. Now the good news: The Wall Street meltdown has resulted in thousands fewer well-paying jobs for the new crop of top college graduates. I don’t mean to minimize the pain wreaked by the near-collapse of the financial sector. But there is a silver lining. With high finance suddenly in low regard, more of our brightest young people could soon be devoting their brainpower not to moving around paper for financial firms, but to such daunting problems as global warming, energy depletion, and our crumbling infrastructure.
I hadn’t realized how out of whack our priorities had become until I started visiting colleges a few years ago with my sons. At many engineering programs, most recent grads had gone into finance, lured by six-figure starting salaries and the prestige of a Wall Street sinecure. A dean at one Ivy League school explained that Wall Street loved engineering students because of their analytical thinking and problem-solving skills. Unfortunately, they ended up working on credit default swaps, collateralized debt obligations, and the other dizzying financial products that got us into this mess. Business grads, of course, flocked to these same investment banks—some of which no longer exist. As a result, the next generation of MBAs is more likely to follow an entrepreneurial path. So instead of securitizing subprime mortgages, say, they might make things we actually need. Others are expected to go into public service or the nonprofit sector. Come to think of it, this is starting to seem less like a silver lining and more like a golden one.
Eric Effron
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The best crime fiction of 2025
The Week Recommends These page-turners will keep you on the edge of your seat
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK
-
Will divisions over trans issue derail Keir Starmer's government?
Today's Big Question Rebellion is brewing following the Supreme Court's ruling that a woman is defined by biological sex under equality law
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK
-
Why UK scientists are trying to dim the Sun
In The Spotlight The UK has funded controversial geoengineering techniques that could prove helpful in slowing climate change
By Abby Wilson
-
Editor's letter
feature
By The Week Staff
-
Editor's letter: Are college athletes employees?
feature The National Labor Relations Board's decision deeming scholarship players “employees” of Northwestern University has many worrying that college sports itself will soon be history.
By The Week Staff
-
Editor's letter
feature
By The Week Staff
-
Editor's letter: When a bot takes your job
feature Now that computers can write news stories, drive cars, and play chess, we’re all in trouble.
By The Week Staff
-
Editor's letter: Electronic cocoons
feature Smartphones have their upside, but city streets are now full of people walking with their heads down.
By The Week Staff
-
Editor's letter: The real cause of income inequality
feature When management and stockholders pocket all the profits, the middle class falls further behind.
By The Week Staff
-
Editor's letter: The real reason you’re so forgetful
feature When you consider how much junk we’ve stored in our brains, it’s no surprise we can’t remember our PINs.
By The Week Staff
-
Editor's letter: Ostentatious politicians
feature The McDonnells’ indictment for corruption speaks volumes about the company elected officials now keep.
By The Week Staff