One parallel that I noticed is how prevalent these easy installment plans are now (Zip, AfterPay, etc) and they don’t require a credit check. People are even using them to buy basic necessities like groceries at Walmart which seems a bit concerning.
Are We Living in the Roaring 20s?
51–60 of 112 posts
Re: Are We Living in the Roaring 20s?
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
Birth rates in the US have been below replacement levels for some time now. This means we will need more immigrants to sustain the never ending growth capitalism demands.
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Probably, but one big issue is conservatives are traditionally loath to support single unwed mothers or even single fathers. For them it was a moral issue, other times it was bigotry.
If the government underwrote single mothers and fathers as much as we now provide in housing and food for some kinds of immigrants, in the past we would have seen a healthier population. They dug that hole. That is to Say Bernie of the 90s wouldn't have been much worse than what we find ourselves with today.
Re: Are We Living in the Roaring 20s?
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
My daughter just bought her first house.
One datapoint is not a trend. I've built a house 3yr ago. I earn almost twice more now but couldn't afford it if I wanted to do the same today.
> One datapoint is not a trend.
Most adult Gen Zers are tracking ahead of where parents were at the same age - see homeownership rates by age for each generation: https://fortune.com/2024/01/17/redfin-baby-boomers-gen-z-hou...
Re: Are We Living in the Roaring 20s?
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
Especially with real estate. Either rent indefinetily by paying their pension , buy the house for 2x-3x+ the monthly rent so you pay their pension in lump sum, or go 1+ hour away from city(also high cost in terms of time etc). The politicians are also older people who can't empathize. The young also don't vote. And if you do buy high now, who are you gonna sell even higher when you retire, since there are so few new…
For sure but I gotta ask, even if the young did vote who is there to vote for? The bipartisan system here is rigged IMO. Even if you vote for a less popular candidate they're usually still beholden to the party.
If the young reliably voted, for their own interests...then both parties have these things called "primaries", where their general election candidates are picked. Sometimes from a wide field of contenders, and usually with very low barriers to entry (either to vote, or to be a candidate).
My understanding is that career politicians' take on the youth vote is: "If the stars happen to align, and you play it right, the youth vote can win you an election. But usually not - so you should mostly let your opponent waste his time chasing the youth vote."
Re: Are We Living in the Roaring 20s?
#55The evidence offered is that the economy is doing well, people are traveling, and there is some technological innovation happening. As though that were unique. He then dismisses certain other, less convenient evidence, like consumer sentiment, and simply doesn't bring up any other changes in the macroeconomic climate over the last 100 years. I would like to know what about the balance of evidence is unique enough to…
> Otherwise, this sounds a little like a kind of numerology where similarly numbered years must resemble each other.
Even if history repeats in cycles for some astrological reason, why would it repeat in a 100 years cycle? Why not a 67 years cycle?
Re: Are We Living in the Roaring 20s?
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not just young people, those who missed the boat are left behind as well which is a considerable part of the population.
I agree, but people often try to demonize them like they had multiple chances (true & false, but still doesn't matter). While young people never had a chance and it's easier to send the point across.
It's always a mistake to give in to Titanic Life Boat logic ("The design of the Titanic was fine, anyone could have gotten into a life boat / but could everyone get into a life boat? / what are you, a COMMUNIST?"). If you try to avoid the problem by focusing on young people, they'll just focus on a young person who made it and hold them up as proof that it's possible (see: person downthread "my daughter just bought a house"). Plenty of kids got into titanic life boats so it's fine, see? The rest just didn't hustle hard enough. Do you want society to be full of cripples who can't hustle into a lifeboat? Don't play that game.
No, if the system forces a growing fraction of people to lose we have to be honest about that, pin down why, and ask if it's really truly unsolvable. Hint: food and clothing and house construction have shrunk dramatically over time as a fraction of our economic activity. The first-principles problems did not get harder and we did not get worse at solving them. This hell is of our own design. It will hurt to solve, but it can be solved.
Re: Are We Living in the Roaring 20s?
#57Re: Are We Living in the Roaring 20s?
#58One parallel that I noticed is how prevalent these easy installment plans are now (Zip, AfterPay, etc) and they don’t require a credit check. People are even using them to buy basic necessities like groceries at Walmart which seems a bit concerning.
They may not do a hard credit pull (which impacts credit score) but many of them do a soft pull and incorporate it into their underwriting.
Re: Are We Living in the Roaring 20s?
#59Whatever it is, it doesn't look good for young people. Good luck to them buying a house with these prices & interest rates, or trying to save for a downpayment while renting. The previous generation is hellbent on maximum extraction & I got mine mentality & rent-seeking.
> The previous generation is hellbent Previous generation is what, Gen X? Millenials? Yeah gee they had it so easy. Stop with the "generation blaming" stuff and blaming voodoo on them. Blame the people you vote for and who they kowtow to, nothing will ever change with petty envy and sour grapes for your neighbor down the street, etc.
The older generations are larger than younger ones in a demographic balloon, hence older generations are a plurality. This has many externalities (for which I agree) are caused by people voting simply in their best interests rather than malice.
Now here is where I push back, is complaining about this unfair scenario "sour grapes" or "envy"? This is a winner takes all scenario. This wealthy group can vote for direct wealth extraction from the poor (which they do, again out of simple self interest) by constraining housing supply in an effective monopoly. That isn't fair, it's a moral hazard. It's not "petty" if you are proveably on the wrong side of demographics. Infact talking about it like this is the only way it can be fixed, as people can be informed into voting for the interests of someone other than themselves.
Re: Are We Living in the Roaring 20s?
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
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Probably, but one big issue is conservatives are traditionally loath to support single unwed mothers or even single fathers. For them it was a moral issue, other times it was bigotry. If the government underwrote single mothers and fathers as much as we now provide in housing and food for some kinds of immigrants, in the past we would have seen a healthier population. They dug that hole. That is to Say Bernie of the…
Don't reward single parents... reward families staying together and raising their kids how they want to, as decided by each individual family. There is a drastic statistical difference between those raised in family units vs single parent households... It's even significantly better to have grandparents (note the plural) raise a kid than a single parent.