Burr Speaks On Economy
 | By Richard Cassidy, Campus News
Photography by Matt Stevens |
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Friday, February 20, 2009 - Mount Olive College had the honor to host NC Senator Richard Burr on Monday. Members of the community as well as the MOC family gathered in the Southern Bank Auditorium to hear the Senator speak. The hot topics of the afternoon were causes of the recession and the Stimulus Package passed by President Obama.
Senator Burr informed the audience that this was the first recession in which the US was part of a Global Market that is also enduring a recession. The initial fix to the recession was to stabilize the financial markets. These markets include banks, stock markets, and other financial lending institutions. According to Senator Burr, “The financial infrastructure as we know it ceases to exist.” Government officials used money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) hoping to put money back into these institutions that lost massive amounts of money due to a decline in the housing sector. However, this caused the value of stock to sharply decline and caused even bigger problems than before.
Burr was quick to express his lack of support for the recent Stimulus Package, “This is a short term fix with no lasting effects.” He felt like the approximately 800 million dollar package takes money from schools and non-profit organizations and putting those funds toward financial institutions. Burr also expressed concern about the massive burden the new debt will cause for future generations.
Senator Burr gave the audience a glimpse of hope, stating, “We will rebound from this and be stronger than before.”
