With all the high-profile news going on this week, it’s hard to go through it all and really figure out what really affects us students at South Carolina. Aside from the protests in Bahrain and across the region forcing gas prices to rise even higher, the national government’s looming budget deadline for the coming year has most strongly grabbed my interest.

Yes, I’m about to get into economics. But wait! Before you click that "back” button, hear me out.