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Millennials 'set to earn less than Generation X'

bbc.com

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Re: Millennials 'set to earn less than Generation X'

#21

Post by elgabogringo »

aioprisan wrote: post #6
naaaaak wrote: post #2

Looks like 8 years of "hope and change" really helped those who voted so heavily for him. Article might be about the UK but it's true here as well.

Obama is not a socialist and there is very little that he could do with such strong opposition and control from the GOP in the house, and until recently, the senate.

Obama had filibuster-proof majorities for his first two years (when they passed the ACA with only one republican house vote and none in the senate) then a split congress for four.

When measured by party control, Clinton, GHW Bush, and Reagan all faced more opposition in congress than Obama has.

Re: Millennials 'set to earn less than Generation X'

#22

Post by badsock »

WalterBright wrote: post #13

Might want to consider the increasing drain on the economy that the government takes. http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/spending_chart_1900_2020... One way or another, it comes out of our pocketses.

Do you have any evidence that increased government spending harms economic growth? It seems like an a priori certainty in right wing thought, but what evidence I've seen suggests that the effect is minimal or even beneficial (within the spending ranges that we see in modern developed nations).

Re: Millennials 'set to earn less than Generation X'

#24

Post by BuckRogers »

dleslie wrote: post #8
drchiu wrote: post #4

I think for many millennials, the conclusion of this article doesn't come as a surprise. As a member between the Gen X and the millennial crowd, I've certainly seen how much harder people just a few years younger than me have it as well as how much easier for those slightly older. Older generations don't realize that their wealth is primarily built up in what is really an elaborate ponzi scheme of sorts, money which…

I'm in the same boat, born on a cusp year of the two generations, and I have long felt like a surfer who is struggling to ride the crest of a wave but who knows that the crash to shore is fast approaching.

I think a lot of us are. My parents are Boomers and we were born between 78 and 82.

Technically being born in 78 makes you GenX. Yet if you have a brother born only 4 years later, it's another generation? We had the exact same experience, Atari 2600 on a TV that is now weird to even think existed. No TV remotes, walk up and change the channel. Rotary phones, city directories and phone books. Need the time and temp? You called the city "time and temp" number. Riding a bicycle to the comic book store and arcade, which were common then. I remember the USSR and my brother and I saw the Challenger blow up on TV at school as if it were 9/11. None of this is the Millennial experience, and they couldn't even describe these details. The world really did change after ~1995, when the internet went mainstream with Win95. Prodigy, CompuServe, AOL, and BBSs were around and used occasionally but I never felt they were significant enough to change society as the internet did post 1995.

In many ways, if you were born from the early 80s back to the 20s you might have had a fairly similar childhood. Stuff that a kid born after the rather dramatic changes the internet caused will never really experience how the world felt different. Similar to how in my grandmother's childhood, she remembers being the first house in the neighborhood to have electricity hooked up. That's a game changer from previous generations.

I think the typical 20 year generational divide is broken with the advent of certain technologies. There has to be a break between those who meaningfully experienced the world prior to the internet and those who don't really remember life without it.

Re: Millennials 'set to earn less than Generation X'

#26

Post by jolux »

WalterBright wrote: post #18
58028641 wrote: post #3

And people wonder why we want a socialist for president

Government at all levels already spends 35% of the GDP. It's hard to see how increasing that will make things better.

That's not an argument. You're just asserting that it's not possible.

Re: Millennials 'set to earn less than Generation X'

#27

Post by angersock »

bunkydoo wrote: post #11

I think there's a trade-off, millennials will live a life with more public conveniences. Internet, social networks, free games, etc. Not my cup of tea, but as a millennial I think the generational values are generally geared more to life experiences over money.

Eh, but in exchange we lost affordable health care, affordable schooling, and other things.

Re: Millennials 'set to earn less than Generation X'

#28

Post by jolux »

badsock wrote: post #22
WalterBright wrote: post #13

Might want to consider the increasing drain on the economy that the government takes. http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/spending_chart_1900_2020... One way or another, it comes out of our pocketses.

Do you have any evidence that increased government spending harms economic growth? It seems like an a priori certainty in right wing thought, but what evidence I've seen suggests that the effect is minimal or even beneficial (within the spending ranges that we see in modern developed nations).

You're entirely right, government spending does not harm economic growth.

Re: Millennials 'set to earn less than Generation X'

#29

Post by aioprisan »

marknutter wrote: post #19
aioprisan wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Obama is not a socialist and there is very little that he could do with such strong opposition and control from the GOP in the house, and until recently, the senate.

Didn't Democrats have control of both the House and the Senate for a period? Also, doesn't being the POTUS mean you know how to bridge gaps and compromise? Sounds like a convenient excuse to point fingers at the other side.

You mean all of 2 years out of his 8? Remember the big healthcare reform bill that got passed and the American Recovery Act that prevented the American car manufacturers from closing up shop? What do you know, things can get passed when that party has control, but since then the GOP did everything possible to block all their efforts. So yeah, not much help for those millennials from the GOP.

Re: Millennials 'set to earn less than Generation X'

#30

Post by sanderjd »

marknutter wrote: post #16
58028641 wrote: post #3

And people wonder why we want a socialist for president

But if Millennials are earning less money, who will pay for socialism?

I'm not suggesting that I'm in favor of this, but the idea is that the country has plenty of wealth, it is just concentrated in older generations who were able to build it through decades of economic largesse, so, well, that's who should should be paying for it.
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