New York Diary - Day 5 (final day)

Taking pity on our exhausted students, I have taken it upon myself to pen the final instalment of the New York Diary. 

Day 5 began in typical fashion, a final potential heart attack on a plate at Mama S’Barro’s. A mixture of excitement for what was in store for the day and idea of going home to catch up on sleep was in the air.

The first stop was a trip to CitiGroup, organised through the Old Fettesian network. This was a great opportunity for the students to see the inner workings of one of the worlds major financial institutions, gaining an understanding of what they do which included a visit to the trading floor as well as a detailed presentation from the graduate recruitment team.

We were then met outside by our Wall Street Guide Jarred who entertained with his charismatic New Yorker tones as he gave us a detailed history of many of the key buildings. The obligatory photograph at the Wall Street Bull was followed by a visit to the New York Stock exchange building (decorated in the colours of recently floated Chinese firm Qudian) and finally Federal Hall which is the birthplace of American Democracy. As we gathered for the final address from Jarred I noticed we were standing directly outside yet another building owned by an important US politician called Donald. Wall Street was a remarkable mishmash of high finance, tourism and poverty. This juxtaposition of wealth and poverty was a noticeable feature of one of the worlds most well known cities. 

The final stop of the day was the Museum of American finance. Time was rather short but our Wall Street retiree guide John did his utmost to take us to the key parts of the museum. Interestingly he spoke early in the tour about why early US banks had such opulent architecture. Competition was the answer, historically it was a show of wealth to potential depositors. Due to the lack of financial infrastructure setting up a bank was very straightforward and the new banks were desperately keen to show themselves to be wealthier and more stable than the next. This was particularly important before the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was created by the 1933 Banking Act. Prior to this point if a bank went bankrupt, savings were lost as shown during the 1929 crash. It was therefore important to present a front of stability. Thankfully the creation of the FDIC meant depositors were then covered for up to $250,000. 

Other fascinating insights were that currency was initially issued by individual banks, this therefore meant that it had different values in different places. For example a $10 bill issued by a bank in North Carolina may only be accepted to be worth $7 in New York.

Moving from the evolution of the dollar to Stock trading and the futures markets (I could go on) students left with a good flavour of the evolution of the US financial system. I for one will certainly be back for a more in depth visit.

All that was left to do now was return to the hostel to pick up the bags and head to the airport. A truly thrilling trip which all students enjoyed immensely. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their good humour and enthusiasm throughout the trip. It was a joy to see them really engaging with the more academically focussed material as well as revel in the fun. There were many highlights, to name a few, Miss Maguire’s excitement at the Maths Museum, Ezra’s engagement with US sports culture in high fiving his fellow New Jersey Devils fans and Andrea’s birthday dancing to name a few. 

All safely back to the UK (aside from a few who flew directly on home) having devoured a big bite of the Big Apple all are exhausted but satisfied having taken on the ‘City That Never Sleeps’.

A final thanks to Miss Jenna Maguire for co-leading the trip, her attention to detail in the planning and organising were crucial to the trip’s success and to Miss Harriet Cowderoy and Mr Harry Duthie for their invaluable support throughout.

By Sam Shelley - Head of Economics