Academic

Sunday?s edition of the Washington Post Magazine has an article on ?the 13 things getting a boost from our troubled times.?  Many of them are things you would expect, though there were some surprises and some that reflect interesting commentary about what we are willing (and not willing) to give up during hard economic times. 

• Two things not much of a surprise were movies and Blu-ray disc players.  Both reflect the fact that people may be traveling less and looking for cheaper forms of entertainment?though given the cost of a movie ticket and even a Blu-ray disc player, cheaper is all relative. 

• Apparently, people are also looking for cheaper forms of romance as on-line dating has gone up. 

• Amazon.com also made the list.  As the article notes, America has ?a shopping addiction.  Not a country to go cold turkey, however, we?ve turned to the nation?s largest online retailer to get our fix on the cheap.? 

• In another sign that we are not willing to go cold turkey, but instead want to get our fix on the cheap, certified pre-owned luxury vehicles made the list.  According to the article, this year?s first quarter sales for the certified pre-owned Mercedes-Benz is up some 44% over the first quarter of last year.  (To be sure, one wonders if the desire to stay in a luxury vehicle even during economically hard times is that far removed from executives? seeming refusal to give up their corporate jets).

• Because America?s favorite pastime also tends to be out of people?s price range, minor league baseball attendance records have shot up, which may be good for minor league baseball, but is a sad commentary on ticket prices for major league baseball.

• Community colleges also made the list.  Of course there has been a lot of discussion and concern about the high cost of higher education and how stresses on the student loan market could impact people?s ability to attend college and grad schools.  The increase in community college enrollment seems to underscore this point.  However, it is not clear if community colleges can really be the answer to this problem.  As the article notes, while the jump in enrollments at the community college level may demonstrate people?s commitment to higher education along with their efforts to find a more affordable educational alternative, the worsening condition of state and local budgets could impact the funding for community colleges, perhaps undermining that alternative for would-be students.

• Interestingly, and perhaps disturbingly, lobbying made the list as unions, organizations and companies spent more on such efforts in the first quarter of this year as compared to last year.  One expert noted that many entities believe it is even more important in economically challenging times to seek to ensure some kind of influence through lobbying efforts.

• Another interesting one is public service.  Apparently interest in the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps has jumped, ?fueled by Americans wanting to help their neighbors in rough times.?  This kind of public service increase at the individual level seems to be consistent with the increase at the corporate level, as one study revealed that over half of companies in its study had increased their philanthropy in 2008.  Hence, corporate giving has gone up even in the midst of the economic downturn.

Certainly an interesting commentary on the kind of things we think we need to pare down and those that continue to thrive despite, or maybe becasue of, challenging times.