It is the dynamic heart of the world’s economy and now students from De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) have seen the inner working of New York’s legendary Wall Street.
Led by a former financier who worked on the famous avenue for more than a decade, the students – from Accounting and Finance and Business and Management courses – were shown around the city’s financial district as part of their itinerary on this huge #DMUglobal trip.
In the shadow of titanic skyscrapers, home or former homes to the world’s biggest banks and accountancy organisations, the students were led by their charismatic and knowledgeable tour guide around the area, stopping to hear the history of Federal Hall, the Federal Reserve Bank (with its half a million gold bars in the basement) and the famous golden Wall Street bull.
They were given an insider’s history of the 2008 financial crisis from a tour guide who worked and Wall Street throughout it, getting first-hand accounts of the fights, protests and media frenzy as three of the world’s top five banks failed in rapid succession after the collapse of the subprime mortgage market.
They then took part in a trading game activity in the basement of Federal Hall.
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Saira Hussain, studying Accounting and Finance, said: “We learned a lot about the history of New York and I know I will think back to what we’ve heard a lot in my life.”
“The tour guide kept repeating the reasons behind the 2008 financial crisis, that bankers were blinded by greed and weren’t paying attention and these are things we should learn early on in our careers.”
Demola Obembe, associate head of Business and Management at DMU, said “For business students, coming to Wall Street shows them the balance between the excitement of business and finance and the ethical challenges which come with it.
“We’ve talked today about the importance of location to the success of a business and bout how that relates to wealth creation.
“But at the same time we have talked openly about how huge banks failed because of poor corporate governance. These are vital lessons for students to learn.”
Posted on Tuesday 9 January 2018