PEOP

I wrote my research essays about the long term effects of government bailouts on the economyàMore knowledge on this subject will help America shape its economy in an ever-evolving and increasingly interdependent world àThey were some of the first college essays that I have written since leaving the militaryàThe hardest part for me is writing these essays in a manner consistent with my standards as a person while also following the rubricàI always struggle with this because in the last five years, I’ve become a bit of a perfectionistàI never used to be this way, but my time in the Army made me like thatàI will get so caught up in trying to – “to-a-tee” – follow every direction, instruction and ruleàTrying to so closely follow the rules all of the time sometimes causes me not to think clearlyàOn many occasions I had to walk away, take a break, get drunk, go for a run or watch TV for a while to clear ma’ headà I ended up having to conduct two formal interviewsà I learned interesting facts from the political and economic angles about motive, opportunity and feasibility of bailoutsà One thing I enjoyed about the interviews was that they almost conflicted with each other, but I had to still use them to persuade the readerà Most of the first one (with my political science professor) gelled with what I thought she’d sayà a lot of liberal stuff à However, the coolest thing that happened when I was researching for this topic was when I found out about Keynesian Theoryà I was at my Army Reserve unit in Fraserà It was between drill days and I was drinking beers and watching game 1 of the NHL Eastern Conference finals with my squad leader Staff Sergeant Dellà He also is a political science major but he goes to Michigan Stateà He asked me if I knew what Keynesian Theory wasà Of course I said noà He then went on to explain ità I thought the whole thing was very cool because it was a very unorthodox setting for me to find a theme on my research question that would help my paperà While my library research and field-work were very helpful, that was the event in ma’ research that really got me thinking and ma’ paper goingà The interview with my Dad really freaked me out because it almost shot down my thesisà Because of the way my questions were written, he at first did not understand their exact contextà He initially told me that my application of Keynesian Theory was incorrectà But as the interview went on, I realized that he was just being professional as a CPA and wanted to ensure that his answer was one as a professional, not as my fatherà The interview with him and my professor alike allowed me to answer detailed questions to prove my point and they helped guide my research in new directions à I wish I would’ve recorded both of the interviews on audio, but I didn’t have a recorderà It would’ve helped me catch more facts in contexts that I may have missed the first timeà The findings from my research truthfully aren’t much by themselvesà Proof that the application of Keynesian Theory to all government bailouts is beneficial in all cases could be a doctoral thesisà It is a complicated, complex argument and needs a lot more than a simple blog post to prove… But I did make some valid points I guess J à  I want to know more about how to apply Keynesian Theory in the face of criticism that it creates inflationà This is the most common argument against its use.

Ian Michael Krell 6/6/2K11 Ann Arbor, MI

Ian Krell is a political science student at Eastern Michigan University and a United States Army combat veteran.
His constant fascination with politics and allegoric view on the world make him a unique researcher. He has a "get it done now as opposed to later attitude" when it comes to most research. His most valued trait that sets him up for success in the research process is his attention to detail.

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