In April, 2008, students in the Labor Economics Class (Econ 322), under the guidance and direction of Dr. Pats Neelakantan, Research Director of East Stroudsburg University's Business and Economic Research Group (BERG), researched wage comparisons of high priority occupations in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Their findings were published in the Pocono Business Journal in April, 2008. The articles were entitled:

Pocono Wages Enough to Sustain? A Collaboration with ESU's Economic Students Wage Comparisons of High Priority Occupations in Northeast Pennsylvania

Participating students were Matt Belles, Michelle Bilyj, Brian Candler, Kurt Engle, Frank Garcia, Lynda Hicks, Mike Lopez, Laura Luscinski, Megan Mattern, Sarah Miller, Gilbert Ortiz, Travis Pregnar, Rocco Supino, Jr., Goldie Tiu, Melissa Tsouhnikas and Sheena Wells.

View the articles by clicking on pp.8-9 of the Pocono Business Journal: poconobusiness_april2008.pdf

In February, 2009, Dr. Pats Neelakantan, spoke to the Pocono Record about the dangers of teens and young adults who get in over their heads with credit card debt.

"Teens and even grown-ups find themselves in trouble with money and finances. It starts with children not being taught by parents and schools to handle money.  They follow a pattern of mistakes and end up with debt."

Dr. Pats should know.   He is an Economist who teaches a popular course at ESU entitled "ECON 122, Personal Finance". The course is a real eye opener as to the importance of applying sound money management.

The bottom line: The news  is not all bad. Armed with a good understanding of saving, spending and investing and knowing how to avoid common financial pitfalls will go a long way toward a secure financial future.

View the article at: Teens&Credit_PoconoRecord