The social effects of recession
James Forsyth 10:42am
David Brooks has a typically masterful column in the New York Times this morning on the social consequences of recessions. His warning about the possible impact on people’s perceptions of democracy and the market system in developing countries are particularly worth paying attention to. But it was this statistic about the US that jumped out at me:
I’d be fascinated to know what the statistics on this are for Britain today compared to 50 years ago. If anyone knows, or has any ideas where to look, do let us know in the comments.“The recession of the 1970s produced a cynicism that has never really gone away. The share of students who admitted to cheating jumped from 34 percent in 1969 to 60 percent a decade later.”
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Andrew Forbes
November 18th, 2008 12:01pm Report this commentWas it really because of recession? Has cheating gone down again in any boom? Don't think so. I read once that in the last boom, the level of cheating by executives on golf courses has gone through the roof. Blame the decline in morality rather than economics.
Other effects of recession will be:
* fashion will become more plain and functional. Look at the early 90s, following the 80s.
* there will be a new phase of music. Remember Punk after Healey went to the IMF in 1976. Grunge & Madchester in about 1990. In happy times, musical tastes drift towards uninnovative pop, which is where we've been for 10 years or so.
mckenzie
November 18th, 2008 12:10pm Report this commentYou want stats that show how many student are prepared to cheat?
Who would in all likelihood undertake such a study and produce such results?
Get my point? Having skewed my own sociology results in order to fit my hypothesis (shameful), I can say that our fixation with stats is daft.
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