New York Times reporter visits BYU

144

Gretchen Morgenson, business and financial reporter for the New York Times, described the wall street environment as “gossipy” during a visit with communications students in the George H. Brimhall building Wednesday morning.

In 2008, the American International Group (AIG) was part of the largest bailout in American history.  The bailout impacted several organizations, including Goldman Sachs.

[/media-credit] Gretchen Morgenson delivered a lecture on BYU campus this past week
Following the AIG bailout, Morgenson published an article about the large businesses and organizations that received funds to keep from going bankrupt. The article upset Goldman Sachs officials and felt that the stable image of the company was distorted into a perception of an organization experiencing financial crisis.

After the article was published, Morgenson received a phone call from a public servant who said that she needed to check her facts regarding the financial standing of Goldman Sachs. However, when Morgeson agreed to interview an individual from Goldman Sachs, they asked to remain anonymous, which jeopardized the credibility of the story.

Morgenson also gave a  lecture at the Herald R. Clark building, hosted by the Kennedy Center, on Wednesday. The lecture focused on Morgenson and John Rosner’s book “Reckless Endangerment: How Outsized Ambition, Greed, and Corruption Led to Economic Armageddon.”

The lecture covered components of the book, and also provided information about the nation’s financial crisis.

Reilly Andreasen, freshman from Rio Rancho, NM, majoring in sociocultural anthropology felt the lecture was very informative and interesting.

“It really gave me a fresh perspective on what needs to be done to survive the economic crisis,” said Andreasen.

Morgenson described the main function of finance should be to create jobs and result in economic growth.

Danielle Swasey, freshman from Orlando, Fla. majoring in international relations was impressed with Morgenson’s lecture.

“I felt like she knew what she was talking about,” said Swasey. “Since economy is such a big issue right now, I think it’s good to get all the facts.”

Morgenson’s full lecture titled “The Next Global Financial Crisis” is available on the Kennedy Center website at kennedy.byu.edu/archive.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email