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Personal Narrative: The 2008 Global Financial Crisis

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"Oh God", my dad whispered with his eyes glued to the television. "The stock market just crashed." Unaware of the weight of this situation, I didn't think much of it at the time. However, over the next couple of months, several of my uncles were laid off as a cause of this incident. Angrily, I wondered how such hardworking people could be fired so easily. Indignant, I began reading and researching, finding all I could about the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. Why did the company fire Uncle Qi? What began as resentment soon evolved into curiosity and interest. I was shocked to learn that the decisions of a few people could have such profound and resonating impact on the global economy. Yet, what intrigued me the most was "why". Questions such as "Why did Henry Paulson choose to let Lehman Brother go bankrupt?" and "Did emotions play a role in his decisions?" fueled me. I knew economic decision making was something I wanted to pursue. …show more content…
While I developed a fundamental understanding of economics, I always felt that comprehending economics was incomplete without considering psychological human variables — often times, people do not always make decisions based solely on their "rational self-interest".

Because of this, I am attracted to The Wharton School's Behavioral Economics concentration; which provides a curriculum that conflates human psychology with economics in order to better understand the process in which people make decisions. Furthermore, I am extremely captivated by the class OPIM 290 - Decision Processes because of its scientific approach towards decision making. By taking this class, I hope to be engrossed in a new understanding behind the psychology of human choices and its relation to

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