In the short run, however, there can be tremendous volatility and strain on our ability to plan. I hope I am wrong. If I could make even money bets on propositions like that, there would be little keeping me from retirement. There is one other factor that makes me concerned, and this is a highly personal one. I talked with her over the winter break about things like consumer confidence and the level of the market, and like me some thirty years earlier, she is benignly unaware.
Times are generally OK right now.
I hope that when her four years are up, the environment in which she makes her next decision allows her the freedom of choice that recent graduates have enjoyed. I would also like to say that for all of our institutions, having a student body that wants to be there, rather than feeling trapped by circumstances, is a far preferable outcome. We shall see how the events take shape. On a more micro note, it is probably important to comment on recent market movements. If there hadn't been a post-Santa Claus rally in stocks, December would have been a negative month at home.