booms & social movements

[Michael Perelman]

On the campus, I can see a tight link between booms and social movement.  With a
real boom -- I don't think we have one yet -- students become confident.  They
choose majors that are nonutilitarian.  They're more ripe for social protests.

Today's students are scared and confused.  They huddle together in majors such as
business or management information systems -- the big growth major on our campus
today.

Some time ago, we discussed the Kerner Commission's conclusion that improving
times were a major contributory factor to the urban uprisings of the time.  So
Alan Greenspan stands as a major defender of the status quo in still another way.
--

Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
Chico, CA 95929
530-898-5321
fax 530-898-5901