There's Money in Poetry... or Poetry in Money?

Nothing is a better reminder of what it means to be a 'somewhat' liberal arts major in the business school than an email about a Financial conference that waxes poetic on the current financial crisis. I don't sympathize with the Financial majors at this university; I disagree with the culture that they buy (bought?) into and attempt(ed) to recreate. So it strikes me as particularly poignant when they start finding outlets to express their angst and frustration about their losses (a career, a corporation, a culture). (Though I swear if I see one more person use the term "Main street" when talking about this crisis, I'm going to stop reading anything news related in English.).

As the economy transitioned from the subprime mortgage crisis to a full-fledged recession jeopardizing the entire financial system with it, we now find ourselves in an unfamiliar economic landscape. One that is both fragile and unpredictable. The effects of the downturn have indeed been catastrophic both on Wall Street and Main Street shaking the very foundations of the economy with tremors that brutally tested the ecosystem on which the edifice of this country lays. But inspite the enormity of the prolonged carnage that has engulfed our financial markets and characterized the defining downturn of this era, we’re finally beginning to see signs of scattered optimism and promise. The financial system and the broader economy it seems are beginning to digest recent developments enroute to rebuilding an appetite for growth and enterprise.

And it is with this preface of economic fragility and scattered optimism that we present to you, the Texas Investment Conference 2009: Navigating the Road to Recovery. The purpose of this conference, which brings together notable industry literates and professionals, couldn’t have been served at a time more crucial than the one we’re in. An increasingly globalized playing field demands a firm understanding of how tight credit markets have impacted the economy, financial markets, and corporate environment. Rather than focusing on one aspect of finance and the economy, the Conference will combine leading industry expertise and renowned academic research to look at current trends and issues that are shaping our financial world with the hope of mapping out the Road to Recovery. Furthermore, the event will provide an opportunity to meet and discuss critical topics with industry professionals and faculty members. Featuring a networking meal, the Conference will serve as a perfect platform for healthy interaction and intellectual discourse between students, corporate representatives, and academia alike.

How do humans get through loss? How do we cope with the pressures that we've created for ourselves and the loss of a dream? Good questions. The answer, I believe, is going to be a rise in modes of self expression. We're looking at the cusp of the next great wave of creative output. Right now is a time when humans are reevaluating their values, reinvigorating their emotions. Complacency is more difficult to come across, strife and disillisionment is rampant. It's been a while since we've churned out a Steinbeck or a Hemingway; that's going to change. Experience is the fuel of creativity, and no experience is more unique or capture-worthy than suffering.

Need an example? Just look south. Latin American literature during the 70s and 80s is, in my opinion, most recent innovative and expressive writing that we have. Political coups, depressions, economic crises, kidnappings, drug wars: these experiences generated a body of moving fictional and visual works. A literary movement and style was created from the political show rooms and horrors of day to day life under a despot.

Not to say that a political coup or a financial crisis is a necessary requisite for a literary movement. But history shows that they go nicely hand in hand.