The Growing Generational Wealth Gap

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  • Опубликовано: 17 окт 2020
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    It’s the hope of almost every generation in history that their children and grandchildren will go on to live wealthier more prosperous lives than their own.
    People put countless hours of thought and planning into things like their children’s education, life insurance, and estate inheritance to make this dream a reality, but overwhelmingly it is still not coming true.
    The long-suffering generation of millennials are now set to be significantly poorer than both baby boomers and gen X’ers.
    Having entered the workforce during the fallout of the 2008 mortgage crisis and then being hit particularly hard during this current crisis has meant that today millennials only account for 3% of national wealth, where boomers at the same point in their lives accounted for 27%.
    This trend is more than just another pity party for our fellow latte-sipping millennials. On a wider level, the share of wealth owned by people under the age of 40 has shrunk from 13% to just under 7% over the past 3 decades.
    Even if we ignore the social issues of younger families having to make do with half that of what their parents did this can have some serious economic implications.
    Young families establishing themselves in life make up a huge portion of consumer spending. Typically speaking people between the age of 25 and 40 have been seen as the perfect consumer market. They have full-time jobs and disposable incomes unlike younger buyers but lack a bit of the weariness of older consumers.
    Therefore if this trend continues businesses around the world might start to lose out on their Goldilocks zone of consumer spending.
    so …
    What is causing this downward pressure on wealth in younger generations?
    What will this mean for the future growth of nations like the USA?
    And could this just be a waiting game of wealth, inevitably getting passed down?
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Комментарии • 3 тыс.

  • @EconomicsExplained
    @EconomicsExplained  3 года назад +217

    Thanks as always for watching :D This video was requested by the team over on Patreon. If you want to have your say on what video is produced next please consider supporting the channel.
    www.patreon.com/EconomicsExplained

    • @radha94
      @radha94 3 года назад +10

      Could you please make a video about what make American health care system so expensive, and how to make it affordable????

    • @djssdns
      @djssdns 3 года назад

      Love your content

    • @gabbyn978
      @gabbyn978 3 года назад

      Did you already talk about the span of interest rates, from close to zero, if you deposit money in a bank account, to way beyond ten, if you need a credit? (At least over here in Germany) It doesn't help the millenials to accumulate wealth, if they have to live under conditions their (grand)parents never knew of.

    • @lordj3793
      @lordj3793 3 года назад +1

      Wage stagnation is a serious problem as well.

    • @pinkynandi8894
      @pinkynandi8894 3 года назад

      Please make a video on decreasing income of doctor s

  • @JovialJewels
    @JovialJewels 3 года назад +3087

    As a millennial who can't afford a home at the age of 33 and hearing about my parents buying their first home at 23 with 1/20th the down payment I have already saved, I would in fact prefer to own 30% of the country in the 1970's.

    • @vod96
      @vod96 3 года назад +198

      Well, ok, goodbye internet, advanced medical treatments, videogames, social tolerance, cheap flights, computers in general. That's just of the top of my head

    • @blackiceyt9164
      @blackiceyt9164 3 года назад +452

      @@vod96 screw those things, if your rich your rich 🤷🏾‍♂️

    • @themanwiththepan
      @themanwiththepan 3 года назад +117

      Dropping out of college was the best thing I ever did to actually make money to buy a house by 24

    • @tech8222
      @tech8222 3 года назад +6

      How much does a home cost in your area

    • @EdillColon
      @EdillColon 3 года назад +59

      These goes back to Keynesian economics and the balance of constant inflation and debt which the government plays. This will keep the prices rising and the economic behaviors of spending now and not have savings because the dollar will be worth less tomorrow.

  • @hisownfool1
    @hisownfool1 3 года назад +489

    When I graduated from a reputable law school in 1980, three years of law school cost less than $7500 and most of that was covered by financial aid. I cannot imagine the burden today's graduates are operating under.

    • @ThexXxXxOLOxXxXx
      @ThexXxXxOLOxXxXx 3 года назад +51

      Lol Most graduates today don't even get a job right after graduation let that sink in.

    • @hisownfool1
      @hisownfool1 3 года назад +44

      @@ThexXxXxOLOxXxXx Amazing! Back in the Pleistocene epoch when I graduated, my job was lined up before I began my final semester in law school. Again, I can’t imagine what today’s graduates are going through.

    • @Lucky-nv2ph
      @Lucky-nv2ph 3 года назад +8

      This is so depressing

    • @megrocks3026
      @megrocks3026 3 года назад +25

      This makes me sad. The worst thing is that baby boomers, the ones who own everything, are the ones making education so expensive

    • @lipscomb3632
      @lipscomb3632 3 года назад +15

      On a pure inflation basis that would now cost ~25k (roughly 3% over 40 years). I suspect though the real cost increases for the exact same school are much higher than that. We can actually thank government interference with "college money" actually for the biggest differences in costs. Plus we've all been told that the only way to succeed is by going to college. As if a plumber or an electrician are just terrible jobs that you can never make money at. *hint* Most plumbers and electricians make more money to start than college graduates do.

  • @TonyTheTGR
    @TonyTheTGR 3 года назад +497

    Part of this is that when you talk to a Boomer about the "Wealth Gap (tm)" - what THEY think you're talking about is the $400k - $2M tax bracket - the highest taxable income in the US. Once you're over $2M; that becomes the LEAST taxed money of all. But Millenials have a very different Wealth Gap they struggle with - it starts at $16k/yr and ends around $50k/yr. $16k/yr is usually the cutoff for public assistance - things like Food Stamps and Medicaid-related Health Insurance options require you to earn below this. $50k/yr is about at the point where an adult can pay their living expenses and bills in full, on time consistently, and then save/invest accordingly. But 35% of Millennial-hiring "real jobs" plant people firmly between the two, at around the $24-30k/yr area, and most of them try to keep you at $1k/mo; or only $12-15k/yr.
    At this point, you're forced to make some compromises. Buying used cars with high mileage, cohabitating or renting absurdly small spaces like 200 sq ft mini-lofts, cutting some corners in your budget. And for awhile, you can make it like that. That is, until you have a major problem, such as a vehicle issue, medical concern, or a loved one with one of these. At that point, even if you take time off, it eats into your bottom line enough to severely drop you back to zero before you ever gain any serious traction.
    This is also conflated with a job market that, in early 2000s, often had payscales revised. While the scale itself was adjusted for inflation/cost of living, where people would start at grade 1 and top off at grade 15; new hires of (200x) start on that scale at pay grade -6, and peak off at grade 9. This lower pay-per-hour combines with the population difference; still making it so that only Boomers are a relevant sales demographic - so pricing on major assets like vehicles, real estate, appliances, etc. still conflate themselves to them alone. If you can sell to Boomers, your bottom line is met.
    This is why you see Xennials and beyond become so anti-capitalism. While it's served older people magnificently, anyone born this side of 1975 has gotten nothing but a mathematical wall in the face. We were never invited to participate in any significant way.

    • @iancorybutler
      @iancorybutler 3 года назад +16

      Absolutely

    • @Scott-by9ks
      @Scott-by9ks 2 года назад +36

      I would have put the date somewhere between 1983-1985. I'm an older Millennial, born in 1981 and I'm doing well now but those just a few years younger than me I watched get DEVASTATED back in 2008-2012! I watched them loose their jobs, then their savings/retirements, then their house, then their marriage, then homeless, then in programs, then back in the work force, then back to saving money, to back in a mortgage, to remarried, to now having kids and about half of those that looked like they had gain everything they had lost between 2008-2012 get laid off in 2020 and loose it all again.

    • @alexndg5260
      @alexndg5260 2 года назад +30

      @@Scott-by9ks As someone who has gone through that, it's nice to see that there is at least some recognition of the realities we have had to face. It's crazy to me that boomers would be able to graduate high school, get a job, get a house and have 3 kids all on that single income while the mother stayed home. My wife and I work full time and both have masters degrees and dealt with two massive economic catastrophes where we were very gravely affected. I have trouble understanding how anyone could ever call our generation lazy when it was so easy for them in comparison.

    • @redfruit1993z
      @redfruit1993z 2 года назад +2

      don't worry, everything is already setup. Capitalism will implode. It nature creates more and more revolutionaries.

    • @hepthegreat4005
      @hepthegreat4005 2 года назад +4

      @@Scott-by9ks Yup. Born in 1986. Had a medical emergency in 2006, then again in 2016... guess who's still trying to recover.

  • @oliverhirsig6314
    @oliverhirsig6314 3 года назад +1050

    $150k is not a "good" income, it is a phenomenal income

    • @shivangitomar7110
      @shivangitomar7110 3 года назад +75

      Wouldn't that depend on where you're living? This would be average in SF/NYC right?

    • @ThisisAlexsCorner
      @ThisisAlexsCorner 3 года назад +61

      Averages don't exactly tell you that the most common income is likely in the 20k range with some exceptional outliers in the post 1 mil range.

    • @plokijuh5830
      @plokijuh5830 3 года назад +51

      @@shivangitomar7110 It's phenomenal even in Zurich, Switzerland

    • @techystt
      @techystt 3 года назад +48

      In San Francisco it's a good invome, no where near phenomenal.

    • @Dave-ru8un
      @Dave-ru8un 3 года назад +18

      @@shivangitomar7110 definitely not average 😂

  • @Artak091
    @Artak091 3 года назад +2381

    The issue is that the previous generation enjoyed the benefits of an affordable society, like being able to buy a house for 30k or go to university for 3k and then once they reaped all the benefits they drove prices up to make it unattainable for the next generation.
    Wages stagnated while housing prices have gone up by many times what they were 30 or 40 years ago.

    • @kobaltapollodorus8922
      @kobaltapollodorus8922 3 года назад +280

      Advertising in the comment section of another channel generally gives people a bad impression, man.
      I’m no publicity expert, but I think you might want to rethink your PR strategy a tad :/

    • @revolutionalist
      @revolutionalist 3 года назад +34

      People from developing countries have opened up from the 1990s, industries will eventually shift to Asia , americas and Africa

    • @Artak091
      @Artak091 3 года назад +75

      @@ogukuo72 how can you say that, he literally covers this topic in the video. The example he provides is an educational cost of 12k going up to around 80k now.

    • @AbdallaElmedny
      @AbdallaElmedny 3 года назад +1

      Very true in the netherlands imho

    • @economicsinaction
      @economicsinaction 3 года назад +10

      I can feel the pain through the comment

  • @louisaparker
    @louisaparker 3 года назад +1184

    I have poor parents and a lot of siblings. So no need to worry about any inheritance.

    • @awolgeordie9926
      @awolgeordie9926 3 года назад +53

      Same here. Both my parents died and me and my siblings got zero!!!!

    • @UnipornFrumm
      @UnipornFrumm 3 года назад +26

      Same,i have to make my weath myself

    • @gerjaison
      @gerjaison 3 года назад +66

      @@awolgeordie9926 At least you have proudly contributed to the economy of funeral services.

    • @ninjatin
      @ninjatin 3 года назад +10

      same, poor af

    • @dj_bae
      @dj_bae 3 года назад +65

      My parents are poor af too. Don't own any property. Struggling to pay the bills. I can only hope I don't inherit their debts or medical bills when they pass cause I would be royally fucked.

  • @raybod1775
    @raybod1775 3 года назад +447

    The U.S. had the advantage of no competition after WWII. First Europe, then Japan, South Korea and finally China became competitors. Then much of the monetary advantages the U.S. were wasted in multiple wars from Vietnam to Afghanistan. Tax cuts were given to the wealthiest, but their tax breaks were not removed so the wealthy pay little or no taxes compared to salaried workers. Debt slavery was recreated when student loans could no longer be expunged in bankruptcy. After the Glass-Steagal Act was eliminated, banks used cheap money directly from the Federal Reserve to support their investment business that support stock prices that support the wealthy. Corporations were also allowed to buy their own stock to pump up stock prices and executive bonuses. In addition, tariffs were removed that forced workers in the U.S. to compete against the cheapest labor anywhere in the world, so tens of millions lost secure good paying factory jobs with benefits. A few managed to join executive ranks, excel at investing, become doctors or high paid government managers, but the vast majority are left behind. That's what I've watched happen in my lifetime.

    • @melvinklark4088
      @melvinklark4088 3 года назад

      Tax cuts were given howerits not like rich people where paying 90 percent of there income to the government in the 50s taxs decreased so rich people stopped hiding there money

    • @raybod1775
      @raybod1775 3 года назад +29

      @@melvinklark4088 90% tax rate was never paid. The wealthy were given tax breaks to invest their money. The only paid a much lower capital gains tax after selling their investments.

    • @Kossimer
      @Kossimer 3 года назад +9

      @@melvinklark4088 Everyone knows that. No one here are the type of people that don't understand what marginal tax rates are. No one expects 90% of their income just because that's what the top bracket is. Nothing changes the fact that a 90% top rate was a successful policy.

    • @aziereandrai7788
      @aziereandrai7788 3 года назад +13

      I blame people not caring about buying American products. It’s about whatever is cheapest. Consumerism imo is making us poor Shipping all the money overseas

    • @Epeprm
      @Epeprm 2 года назад +5

      Its exactly this yet nobody mentions it.
      That said, this is not only a US problem nowadays, but its true that the impact in the US us higher. Theres another factor that was not mentioned in the video which is simply that there is way to much people living in this world nowadays.

  • @somecuriosities
    @somecuriosities 3 года назад +733

    Question: What good is inheriting a fortune from your parents when they die age 80. if you are now 50 and too old yourself to use that money to start a family? How can you raise, support and educate an economically productive family of your own to a level that surpasses that of your parents when you have less resources to do so than they did at the same age?

    • @Arnouxvaze
      @Arnouxvaze 3 года назад +27

      If you somehow got a family then you can immediately pass the money you inherited to your kids so their life will be easier.

    • @somecuriosities
      @somecuriosities 3 года назад +91

      @@Arnouxvaze Way too late! Think it through. By the time im 50 my youngest kid would likely be what 15? 10 at best? And im not so sure that its in a socities best interest to have a generation of dino dads and mammoth mums only starting to be able to properly provide for a family when their kids are already teens. Providing for your kids in those early years counts a lot!

    • @silo_fx3182
      @silo_fx3182 3 года назад +24

      @@Arnouxvaze Further to @Some Curiosities. That 50 year old Gen Xer currently needs that inheritance for themselves to get to 70/75+. For many, this inheritance is the only retirement strategy they can fall back on.
      To me the 50 gen Xer can offer a comfortable base home and food for their children as way of support, if they can.
      Gen X has had to survive the boomer lag and smack of wage reductions and economic reform through the 90's and 00's., all while bringing up kids. 50+ is barely at the end of their own tunnel of financial stability.

    • @glinton1218
      @glinton1218 3 года назад +25

      @@somecuriosities I agree the older generation should not be waiting until death to hand over their wealth to their next of kin. Like the video explained the older generation has more money in savings and spend less why cant both the parents and grandparents put together to send the youngest generation to college or invest in real estate or the stock market. Why does it have to be that your parents can't still continue to help you even after you leave the nest and start your own family. If multiple generation are contributing to a common goal of that overall family wealth it shouldn't be an issue unless the older generations are intentional withholding their wealth from the younger generations only to wait till they die at 76 to give it to them in the end.

    • @aadfg0
      @aadfg0 3 года назад +25

      The solution is to not have children. You will see birth rates continue to decline, and that's not a problem with overpopulation looming on the horizon.

  • @FrankCastle-tq9bz
    @FrankCastle-tq9bz 3 года назад +1390

    Seriously, the scenario of a millennial making around 150K you proposed is unrealistic - more than half of workers are getting by on 30K a year or less!

    • @TheWatchfulWolf
      @TheWatchfulWolf 3 года назад +113

      Lucky to get 30k working 60 hours a week most weeks.

    • @katfish8852
      @katfish8852 3 года назад +6

      True

    • @saiga12forme88
      @saiga12forme88 3 года назад +55

      @@TheWatchfulWolf Luckily we have the knowledge of the whole word literally at our fingertips on our phones or computers, its time to start working to improve yourself and start looking at other career options.

    • @TheWatchfulWolf
      @TheWatchfulWolf 3 года назад +278

      @@saiga12forme88 Wow, took someone all of a few seconds to say the least helpful thing: "work harder to work harder." Look, if you've got no helpful advice, then don't give any. That isn't exactly a pearl of wisdom there.

    • @godemperorofmankind7255
      @godemperorofmankind7255 3 года назад +33

      @@TheWatchfulWolf What he was stating was go into a profitable job market. Engineering and tech for example are very profitable industries.

  • @sillydogfarms2983
    @sillydogfarms2983 3 года назад +887

    The transfer of wealth to Gen X is *highly* complicated by reverse mortgages and medical expenses. I can expect nothing if my parents spend their last days in hospital.

    • @chengyanboon
      @chengyanboon 3 года назад +137

      Technically it's still a generational wealth transfer, just to the hospital, insurers and medical administrators. Who hopefully by that point are all millennials and gen X and even Z. Of course that doesn't make your life any easier but economists still see it as a generational wealth transfer.

    • @richdobbs6595
      @richdobbs6595 3 года назад +43

      @@chengyanboon It is wealth transfer to the extent that the hospital and insurers make a profit, and workers save there earnings. But primarily it is just consumption that doesn't particular improve quality of life.

    • @chengyanboon
      @chengyanboon 3 года назад +9

      @@richdobbs6595 neither does inheritance have any inherent value. At least medical expenses are a service rendered.

    • @JasonMcCarrell
      @JasonMcCarrell 3 года назад +29

      @@chengyanboon This is rational in theory, and probably 50, and eszpecially 100 years ago, a lot of that money would have went to younger folks with private practices, or larger gains from the hospitals and insurance firms... but now a days... after 100 years of capitalism "exponentially growing", it's now simply the richest folk who take that money. They do dumb things with that money, which leads to instability, which causes market crashes, and causes the whole economy to get fucked. (When they're hoarding it, it's instead a ticking time bomb)
      You're right... but only marginally. The true answer is... we're screwed either way and we desparately need to find ways to transfer wealth down, before we end up with a dystopia where people are literally untouchable, because their wealth is unfathomable. [IMO Bezos is already there and many are approaching him]

    • @justinlloyd6455
      @justinlloyd6455 3 года назад +22

      You are absolutely correct. Current (expensive) end of life care is known as "Wealth Extraction". And I've known many, many people who's parents died and they got NOTHING. Absolutely NOTHING. Not even $30K. Not even $5K.

  • @ThrottleKitty
    @ThrottleKitty 3 года назад +224

    I think this is why "OK Boomer" became such a meme. Earning wealth was easy in their generation, if you worked hard. Things were affordable, you were compensated fairly for your work. None of that is true now, and it leaves our generation with a sense of hopelessness. The way boomers respond to this, implying it's our fault we were born into a disparity they created compounds this harshly. Like it's my fault the median work at minimum wage to buy a house went from 5 years in your youth to 50 years in mine.

    • @JacyndaMinor
      @JacyndaMinor 2 года назад +16

      Yeah and I feel like working hard has much more sinister results now, as it exposes you to occupational hazards and prevents your recovery from them. it’s seems like getting lucky is the only way up. Read: getting lucky = being born into wealth and/or contributing to the giant imaginary machine that is finance while everything tangible kinda withers away…
      BLEAK AF

    • @phoenix21studios
      @phoenix21studios 2 года назад +2

      what they experienced was not normal because of WW2. Average skill under normal circumstances pay normal wages. The global economy became more balanced/competitive and now if you want to make a lot of money you need to be able to do a job that pays a lot of money.

    • @rcenal6995
      @rcenal6995 2 года назад

      No it wasnt

    • @rcenal6995
      @rcenal6995 2 года назад

      Not all from that generation are millionaires

    • @ThrottleKitty
      @ThrottleKitty 2 года назад +7

      @@rcenal6995 OK Boomer

  • @reformed1trick739
    @reformed1trick739 3 года назад +101

    "Young families establishing themselves in life make up a huge portion of consumer spending"
    Me: what family? What spending? 98% of my paycheck goes towards bills and I'm college educated. We can't even afford to start a family

    • @phoenix21studios
      @phoenix21studios 2 года назад +1

      whats your degree in?

    • @EarlSoC
      @EarlSoC 2 года назад +9

      This is the biggest thing that wasn't adequately touched on in this video. If the actual baby boom contributed to the associated economic boom, and most millenials feel they can't afford to start families, then won't that begin a series of population and economic contractions? From what I understand that's what's happening in Japan. No generation wins in that scenario.

    • @rejectwokeness1314
      @rejectwokeness1314 2 года назад +6

      Not to mention the low ball salaries company offers without taking into consideration the inflation over the years. There's hardly any increase in pay level for the same grade, same job for the same company

    • @phoenix21studios
      @phoenix21studios 2 года назад +4

      @@rejectwokeness1314 its their right to set pay for different positions. If its not enough those slots will not be filled, and they will be required to increase pay to have slots filled, there is a natural equilibrium at play and we shouldn't jack around with it, other wise we end up with....high gas prices, expensive food, expensive houses, expensive cars, everything cost more.

    • @ViceHacks
      @ViceHacks 2 года назад +6

      @@phoenix21studios however that equilibrium is being tipped, that’s why we are seeing a great resignation. People are tired of slaving away their lives to not even afford what they want. Wealth is being hoarded at the top and that’s a big reason everything is getting more expensive, gas, cars, homes.

  • @XiyuYang
    @XiyuYang 3 года назад +1551

    Me: 27 years old, went through tons of schools, finally landed a somewhat decent job
    My mom: wHy DoN'T yOu SAvE mOnEy AnD bUY a HOUsE?

    • @ThexXxXxOLOxXxXx
      @ThexXxXxOLOxXxXx 3 года назад +269

      Lol they think it's the 80s when everything was possible..

    • @mattbowdenuh
      @mattbowdenuh 3 года назад +167

      Yep. I'll get on that, while trying to pay bills, pay off student debt, and living on rice and beans. Oh, 20% of 300K, ya I can do that in 20 years lol.

    • @Thunder_Yoda
      @Thunder_Yoda 3 года назад +65

      Quit whining... Start small. Don't buy mint palaces, buy smal shitty places and fix them up. You'll pay that off in no time. When you need a bigger home, you can either sell it or rent it to someone. I'm doing that. And I make medium 5 figures in an expensive area.

    • @jessicah3782
      @jessicah3782 3 года назад +15

      You only need 3.5% down payment for an FHA and in some cases just 3% for a conventional loan so for a $300k home that is $10,500 at 3.5% or $9,000 at 3% and if your job is decent enough to afford the resulting monthly mortgage payments then you are golden.

    • @TheYellowKing779
      @TheYellowKing779 3 года назад +4

      @JCO2able as the elder gen x of the 99 we do we just don’t care anymore. Not like we can do much anyway

  • @emptyshirt
    @emptyshirt 3 года назад +143

    An important point about older people always controlling wealth is that older people aren't as adaptable. The world cannot change if all of the wealth belongs to people dead set in their routine lifestyle. The solutions to future problems will never be wielded by people young enough to change.

    • @speshulgay
      @speshulgay 3 года назад +26

      This little fact pisses me off more than anything. Most people who own the houses I can’t afford are older gens. The boomers and whoever was around in the 80’s ruined this country with advertising and consumerism and coast to coast shopping malls littering this once beautiful country. Sickening. I’m not into consumerism and manipulation. If millennials were in charge we would have water powered cars by now.

    • @AbdulGoodLooks
      @AbdulGoodLooks 3 года назад +9

      @@Raynaldiish And the cycle goes on! We can only hope to be the best we can for the next generation and leave them a prosperous and better world

    • @gorkyd7912
      @gorkyd7912 3 года назад +4

      @@speshulgay The millennial characterizations of boomers are just as stupid as the boomer characterizations of millennials. There are many many many anti-consumerist boomers; they basically invented the idea. Find a book about rejecting consumerism or materialism and it's probably written by a boomer. And consumerist millennials... they're everywhere, they're just buying $80 computer games now instead of $20 pre-cut jeans.

    • @Origami84
      @Origami84 2 года назад

      @@speshulgay Ok millennial.

  • @christodang
    @christodang 3 года назад +30

    While this is an issue worldwide IMO it’s most prevalent in the US due to their policies which in general create larger wealth gaps. When you’re making 40k/yr but have socialized healthcare, subsidized housing/utilities, controlled rent, reasonable tuition costs/forgiving loans and whatnot, the gap is a lot more bearable even if it’s still very much there. Don’t get me wrong, millennials in many countries are worse off than their parents or grand parents but it’s exaggerated in the US due to the country’s generally poor conditions for lower income citizens vs other industrialized nations.

  • @warmpi
    @warmpi 3 года назад +44

    1) Great recession stalled careers of millenials
    2) Response to great recession, i.e. quantitative easing, which inflated asset prices.. assets which only boomers had
    3) Automation of jobs, i.e. jobs that were cut post 2008 never came back. e.g. post Covid, you'll see a lot of retail bank locations close

  • @TheMerchantGuild
    @TheMerchantGuild 3 года назад +185

    10:05 when your boss walks in so you try to look busy

  • @gabrielholland6352
    @gabrielholland6352 3 года назад +314

    I wish Economics Explained would have touched on the possibility of greater inherited wealth creating a more rigid class structure. If the majority of wealth is held by older generations then wouldn't wealth become more and more associated with who your parents are as opposed to who you are or what you do? Am I the only one making this connection?

    • @sharnistevens1428
      @sharnistevens1428 3 года назад +45

      No, you're not the only one. We are well aware of the implications. The only solution I see is death taxes/inheritance taxes/estate taxes - but boomers are scared shitless of this.

    • @a.j.4644
      @a.j.4644 3 года назад +18

      And note that such basic historical fixes like a serious inheritance tax were not mentioned. If 3000 people (Boomers) hold more than $6-trillion, we can only expect, what? 10k heirs to inherit that? All that wealth they never earned? That's a problem for society.

    • @Thalanox
      @Thalanox 3 года назад +43

      @@a.j.4644 A huge problem. A permanent upper class. A world of gods and slaves, neither having any real influence on their positions. Infinite power for the infinitely wealthy. Power corrupts. Plane trips to mysterious islands on planes with named like the "lolita express" will inevitably ensue.

    • @shorewall
      @shorewall 3 года назад +4

      @@Thalanox Sounds like the same as it ever was.

    • @Dageka
      @Dageka 3 года назад +12

      Basically neofeudalism

  • @glenfordburrell9228
    @glenfordburrell9228 3 года назад +15

    Very interesting Broadcast. I remember mounting my bicycle and heading straight to our building society office to make our last Mortgage payment. I was 17yrs of age, the Year was 1979 and my Father was a mere 48yrs. Our house was semi detached with two toilets, two kitchens and an additional laundry room which wasn't in the basement.
    By then my father was living with his second wife and had just became a dad again. It's only now I realise how wealthy we were compared to today.

  • @nunzo1
    @nunzo1 3 года назад +7

    New grad out of school: I can't wait to use all this knowledge and contribute to society!
    New grad one year later: I wonder if I should go back to school or continue working at TJ Maxx...

  • @sofielinnea5869
    @sofielinnea5869 3 года назад +71

    I was talking with some friends the other night about what we would do if we won 100 000 dollars, every single one said buy a house/apartment. Not travel, invest or a nice car, just somewhere to live.

    • @AbdulGoodLooks
      @AbdulGoodLooks 3 года назад +17

      Still not enough...

    • @danharvey3096
      @danharvey3096 3 года назад +10

      I don't know which country you live but in Australia & New Zealand you would struggle to buy a parking spot or a garage for that much even in a farming town.. Auckland median house prices are over $1 million, and insanely, in the middle of a global pandemic the record-low interest rates have pushed houses up by 15% in just one month. Even in South Auckland, the somewhat dodgy south part of the city, $800,000 might get you a 3 bedroom home with a very small lawn if you're lucky. Luxury homes are selling around $20 Million upwards. In Christchurch in the south island, a city still rebuilding from a series of earthquakes 10 years ago, you would struggle to get a 3brm home for $500,000. We are in what you could only describe as a property bubble. We have long been unaffordable but now it's ridiculous.. The vast majority of people to profit from this have been boomers, who have seen their house prices go up 500% in 15-20 years. And those same boomers have fought tooth and nail against any plans to tax their vast capital gains, that's right, amidst such a huge property value rise, none of those gains have been taxed as we have no capital gains tax.. These are definitely issues that affect Millenials more than the boomers who rent out their poorly maintained & uninsulated "retirement nest eggs" at ever-increasing market rates.. A generational backlash is building i can feel it..

    • @shorewall
      @shorewall 3 года назад +4

      @@danharvey3096 Has Chinese investments contributed to that?

    • @wilhelmbittrich88
      @wilhelmbittrich88 3 года назад +4

      @@shorewall As a New Zealander, yes. And the damage can’t be reversed now.

    • @kamilareeder1493
      @kamilareeder1493 2 года назад

      Its true and sad.

  • @nicholashildenbrand8632
    @nicholashildenbrand8632 3 года назад +30

    This whole video just highlights the unacceptable state of things in the US. At no point was I convinced that it was something society shouldn't be addressing with policy. At no point did I think, "Oh that's a practical solution lets just wait to see our parents die and see how the wealth transfer goes."

    • @shorewall
      @shorewall 3 года назад

      Policy caused the problem, and the policies people want will exacerbate the problem.

  • @Swampertchamp
    @Swampertchamp 3 года назад +16

    Job quality has been declining.
    Along with the massacre of manufacturing jobs.

  • @Delosian
    @Delosian 3 года назад +73

    Wealth shouldn't have to be passed down, we should be able to make enough money to become rich on our own merits, but we can't. We're barely getting pay rises, yet the price of houses are going nuts. The end result is that we're putting off having families, which will cause the next generation to suffer worse than our generation.

    • @ZodiacEntertainment2
      @ZodiacEntertainment2 2 года назад +9

      It's a snowballing issue and politicians today REALLY need to be paying attention to it. Of course, our short sighted economy and legislative practices would rather come up with a half assed solution when the problem is already beyond fixing.

    • @Shutdownoftheday
      @Shutdownoftheday 2 года назад +1

      Did you not listen?

    • @phoenix21studios
      @phoenix21studios 2 года назад

      sounds like youre trying to get rich with a skill set that wont make you rich. If you want to have wealth you need to be able to do a job that pays well. Lets stop pretending that you need a big house and 3 cars from a job that mostly anyone can do.

    • @kybercat7
      @kybercat7 Год назад +1

      theres a small chance that if i somehow ever have kids (fat chance) there generation will be small enugh for things to be easy. houses may be cheep for them because they are all empty now. there will just be more to go around because theres less people. one can only hope.

  • @itachi1145
    @itachi1145 3 года назад +254

    Boomers also got to enjoy a dramatically smaller cost of living when they were young, buying houses that costs less than a years salary of the time and have hoarded all that cheap real estate which is worth dramatically more post 2008 which somebody starting life I’d debt is going to have a much harder time making a reality.

    • @jdrus6080
      @jdrus6080 3 года назад +30

      They also go out of their way to block development and home building

    • @origionalwinja
      @origionalwinja 3 года назад +6

      this is false. the cost of a house in 1950 was $7400. the average YEARLY income was $2990. inflation (caused by raising wages and minimum wage) has kept pace pretty well....

    • @Aldebarean
      @Aldebarean 2 года назад +5

      @@origionalwinja Yes and where i live you have to pay €250k for a crappy house with 100 K in renovation costs and at least 3 years needed to do the renovation yourself with friends, if you want the bare minimum of renovation costs your down €400K. Try to do that when you have €2 k a month and 1k of that is going into rent alone... It took me 5 years to save up €60 K and in order to get a loan from a bank the downpayment went from €60 K to €120-150K in 5 years....

    • @dark12ain
      @dark12ain 2 года назад

      @@origionalwinja I would definitely rather be in that situation than what we are in right now and it is not false And I thought inflation was caused by quantitative easing or basically printing money out of thin air

    • @sandponics
      @sandponics 2 года назад

      The boomers also got to enjoy much lower wages and longer working hours than today. That said, for the majority, their wages and working hours were far superior to those of their own parents and grandparents.

  • @crymetyme1000
    @crymetyme1000 3 года назад +343

    I'm very surprised you didn't mention changes in the monetary and fiscal policies that began in the 1970s and accelerated in the 2000s that have almost entirely contributed to issues of housing prices and necessity of loans.
    Also, your calculation for the boomer's savings didn't factor in dividends and stock market growth. That makes it much larger than just 2 million. Furthermore, most individuals transition to holding "safer" stocks and bonds as they get closer to a retirement, so a stock market drop wouldn't affect them as much or might actually increase their net worth.

    • @swaggery
      @swaggery 3 года назад +1

      Can you sum up the monetary and fiscal policies?

    • @Hyperventilacion
      @Hyperventilacion 3 года назад +35

      @@swaggery He's most likely talking about Reaganomics or Thatcherism (if you're from the UK) which is low taxes for the rich and corporation less funding to education, public health, infrastructure, etc... but most importantly, a sharp flattening on salaries related to inflation, and a dismantling of unions and any sort of organized labour. They were supposed to create a free-market that self-regulates and is way more efficient that the old Keynesian policy, but it just evolved into corporate welfare and crippling debt.
      Edit: also, everything was financialized, making a lot of regular markets prone to speculation, like housing.

    • @clarkjanes3094
      @clarkjanes3094 3 года назад +16

      @@Hyperventilacion No he's talking about Fed and government policies flooding the market with cheap money that drove up demand and undermined traditional savings strategy. "Cheap student loans" doesn't mean everyone can afford college, it means college just became super expensive and everyone is in deep debt.

    • @Hyperventilacion
      @Hyperventilacion 3 года назад +7

      @@clarkjanes3094 That's part of the financialization problem, they try to fix everything digging deeper into a monetary trap which gets exacerbated by the extreme financialization.

    • @sahilhassan8538
      @sahilhassan8538 3 года назад +19

      It honestly began with Reagan. Trickle down doesnt work as it gives money to the wealthiest, and then they park all of that money into financial markets. On top of that Interest rates were higher 20 to 30 years ago, so that many Boomers could have made decent returns in banks, and treasury bonds.

  • @caleblott399
    @caleblott399 3 года назад +35

    There's also a psychological component. I know a lot of Millennials who had one or both Boomer parents who did not take their jobs seriously. They did not try to educate them well, and they were not involved in their lives.

    • @shorewall
      @shorewall 3 года назад +2

      Look at the 60s and 70s. What a mess. Learn from their mistakes, and don't remake them.

    • @alicianieto2822
      @alicianieto2822 3 года назад +14

      ..or didn´t bother saving for them. My parents got one and a half houses as presents from their parents (they weren't rich, they saved since each kid was born to buy them a house, or help hem buy one at least, because they thought it was their duty). My parents never did that for me, or felt like they had to, so they happily kept their parent´s wealth and their own. I know a lot of people their age who are doing the same.

    • @caleblott399
      @caleblott399 3 года назад +12

      The Boomer Generation created the notion that "children are resilient." I think the Millennial Generation can trace most of their problems back to that. They expected the public schools to raise their kids, and they expected the kids to raise themselves. All the parents had to do was sheltered their kids to the point of no autonomy, or gave full autonomy far too soon.

    • @origionalwinja
      @origionalwinja 3 года назад

      most boomer parents had gen x kids....so you're wrong right off the start

    • @aaronbirook4367
      @aaronbirook4367 3 года назад

      Nope, that’s not true, The Boomer males had kids late, the Boomer females had Gen X kids. Women marry men 3-5 years older than themselves.

  • @tyrants3062
    @tyrants3062 3 года назад +71

    House prices are 300-500% of 20 years ago
    Wages are barely any higher
    Very few skilled jobs pay more than double minimum wage because everyone has a degree (I earned £18k with a masters degree in engineering)

    • @betterhomesnc2437
      @betterhomesnc2437 3 года назад +5

      Skilled labor in the US gets paid significantly higher than minimum wage.

    • @ZodiacEntertainment2
      @ZodiacEntertainment2 2 года назад +5

      @@betterhomesnc2437 So? It still hasn't kept up with the cost of living.

    • @alexs1640
      @alexs1640 2 года назад +6

      @@ZodiacEntertainment2 yeah, anyone who claims anything other than our system is broken, must not know that wages haven't kept up with inflation. Things cost more now than 20 years ago and we earn less than 20 years ago. A deadly combination

    • @bugsbunny4647
      @bugsbunny4647 2 года назад

      What field in engineering specifically, and your job? I'm about to start classes for Electrical. 18K sounds criminal, assuming you have student loans to pay.

    • @spnyp33
      @spnyp33 2 года назад

      @@bugsbunny4647 You should be fine. According to the internets, the low-end EE average salary is 47k-60k USD. High end is 6-figures.

  • @marcobonesi6794
    @marcobonesi6794 3 года назад +288

    This is more apparent in countries like italy. We're the second oldest people in the world after Japan. Especially since for electoral reasons between the 70s and 90s We allowed millions of boomers to retire at 40 years old and with a pensions far superior to their contributions. In fact more than half of our public debt has been caused by them.

    • @bumboyify
      @bumboyify 3 года назад +3

      And this also creates friction within the EU.

    • @ivanlagrossemoule
      @ivanlagrossemoule 3 года назад +78

      There's also the fact that they're a large generation that didn't have many kids, so now they'll retire while a smaller generation has to fund them. I won't feel bad when they constantly have their pensions cut down.

    • @marcobonesi6794
      @marcobonesi6794 3 года назад +9

      @@ivanlagrossemoule we are two then.

    • @apacheattackhelicopter8185
      @apacheattackhelicopter8185 3 года назад +18

      >Especially since for electoral reasons between the 70s and 90s We allowed millions of boomers to retire at 40 years old and with a pensions far superior to their contributions
      What a nice way of saying Italy was ruled by socialists.

    • @marcobonesi6794
      @marcobonesi6794 3 года назад +6

      @Clifford your big red God 39 for the women in the public sector with 15 years of work with a pensions which was equal to their last salary. They've lived more than 40 years in retirement. And even in the private sector it wasn't more than 48/50 until the early 80s .

  • @EconomicsExplained
    @EconomicsExplained  3 года назад +373

    Just 30 more years and then I can really stick it to those young whippersnappers!

    • @elihoy5977
      @elihoy5977 3 года назад +13

      Ok boomer

    • @radha94
      @radha94 3 года назад +28

      Could you please make a video about what make American health care system so expensive, and how to make it affordable????

    • @tacomonkey222
      @tacomonkey222 3 года назад +7

      @@radha94 insurance and government

    • @christopherellis2663
      @christopherellis2663 3 года назад +1

      Get yourself a nice young thirtysomething gf

    • @kaelanirevyruun1676
      @kaelanirevyruun1676 3 года назад +8

      @@radha94
      Reason for it being so expensive: For-profit healthcare
      How to make it affordable: Move away from a for-profit system for healthcare

  • @epicbluerat9999
    @epicbluerat9999 3 года назад +25

    My great grandparents were union members, my grandparents also were. The unions went away and the wage gap happened, my parents weren't so lucky. My mom worked at Walmart and my dad went to war and became disabled. Both have not even a fraction of the amount of wealth their parents had. And their parents had even more than them. I'd say the housing market has the greatest impact.

  • @wander1027
    @wander1027 3 года назад +34

    As an millenial who has been from contract work to contract work years after graduating and dont feel confident about buying a home or having kids, this video resonates.

    • @stereo-soulsoundsystem5070
      @stereo-soulsoundsystem5070 3 года назад +1

      You should check out Second Thought. His videos will really put our struggles into context.

    • @wander1027
      @wander1027 3 года назад +1

      @@stereo-soulsoundsystem5070 will do thanks

    • @jc.1191
      @jc.1191 3 года назад +1

      There's good reason to be conservative with your money

  • @Origami84
    @Origami84 3 года назад +114

    I can't take this video seriously. I just read an article where it was written that the median income in the US is 34k$. 34k. That is not the kind of income that allows you to have 500k homes WITH a million on the side. It's not even close to that. And it's certainly not close to a new millennial worker that has 100k saved. Come on....

    • @seanthe100
      @seanthe100 2 года назад +2

      That's accurate for mellenials, but definitely not for boomers who had incomes of more than double that and initially purchased homes at $100k that became worth $500k.

  • @trinitylogan5330
    @trinitylogan5330 3 года назад +166

    Last time I was this early, jobs still had pensions

    • @ThexXxXxOLOxXxXx
      @ThexXxXxOLOxXxXx 3 года назад +7

      Move on it's the time for robots to work for us and the government printing us universal basic income

    • @big_changus4905
      @big_changus4905 3 года назад

      @@ThexXxXxOLOxXxXx south korean.👌

    • @big_changus4905
      @big_changus4905 3 года назад

      @Jaskaran Singh see WSJ report on South Korea

    • @origionalwinja
      @origionalwinja 3 года назад +1

      thank unions and liberalism for not having pensions anymore

    • @wandaperi
      @wandaperi 3 года назад +1

      OK,
      Normie!

  • @tchaffman
    @tchaffman 3 года назад +52

    Two statistics I’d like to see:
    Percentage of US household wealth, by age of generations median cohort (per capita)
    Generational fertility rates

    • @Ggdivhjkjl
      @Ggdivhjkjl 3 года назад +3

      Fertility rates in almost every Western country are so long that almost nowhere except Greenland can avoid societal collapse in the next 40 years. The only alternative is to be conquered by foreign invaders.

    • @John-wf5if
      @John-wf5if 3 года назад +3

      @@Ggdivhjkjl That is what is happening. The population ponzi scheme is being topped up with migrants.

  • @Meleeman011
    @Meleeman011 3 года назад +15

    it's kind of the reason i swallowed my pride although it still exists in other forms and so i live with my parents. likewise i'm nice to them because they're rich, and they're nice to me because they want someone around to take care of them when they are old. the advantage cannot be understated. although they are still getting used to my cooking

  • @thygrrr
    @thygrrr 3 года назад +192

    The calculation is completely borked:
    - boomer's portfolio will catch up SUPER FAST
    - millennials don't make 150k nearly as commonly as boomers do.
    - if boomer is 40 years ahead of millennial, at a 50k savings rate, they will have WAY more than 2 million unless all they stuff their money in is a piggy bank.
    I am more than a little appalled that Economics Explained completely overlooks compounded interest over time.
    This is such a massive oversight, it can only be intentional. But... why?

    • @Villex93
      @Villex93 3 года назад +28

      It doesnt change the fact that boomers were more wealthy when they were the same age as millenials today

    • @F1R3S74R73R
      @F1R3S74R73R 3 года назад +12

      Saying that a larger saving will need more time to recovery because of a hypothetical crash never recovers is like saying that all ships will sink because a part of the ship hit by a wave will stay underwater forever

    • @Lordblow1
      @Lordblow1 3 года назад +7

      I was wondering if someone else spotted this. I was rather confused by that too.
      Also it is not usually odd to assume much of that portfolio contains stock from companies that pay dividends to their shareholders. Making the boomer's effective income much higher.

    • @SangoProductions213
      @SangoProductions213 3 года назад +4

      @@F1R3S74R73R Of course, he did specifically say "If the losses *are* realized." As book value losses mean basically nothing except for accounting.
      And old people tend to have less time to just ride out the waves of an economy, what with not having a job and higher unexpected medical expenses, giving a higher liklihood to realize the losses.

    • @thygrrr
      @thygrrr 3 года назад

      @@Villex93 This part of the video is accurate.

  • @sownheard
    @sownheard 3 года назад +32

    1 Salary Stagnation with inflation.
    2 House market Mark-Up.
    3 Debt based school's for underpaying Jobs.
    4 Company's avoiding taxes/moving out.
    Trickle down economics
    A broken system that will just collapse If nothing is done.

    • @Corkfish1
      @Corkfish1 3 года назад +5

      The baby boomers also didnt spend like the more recent generations. There were no cell phones, computers, game consoles and the notion of spending $200 on a pair of sneakers would have been considered beyond absurd. The society today emphasizes consumption more than in the 60s and 70s.

    • @AbdulGoodLooks
      @AbdulGoodLooks 3 года назад +5

      Waiting for the real estate bubble to burst so we can get better deals on real estate.

    • @Corkfish1
      @Corkfish1 3 года назад

      @@AbdulGoodLooks and it will happen. Just look at 1988 and 2008. Every generation learns the hard way.

    • @Michael-jq1hl
      @Michael-jq1hl 3 года назад +3

      @@Corkfish1 issue is the people with the largest amount of wealth are also the ones directly in charge. Especially if you think how many billionaires have direct influence on the public, while before there were like 3 billionaires that were public figures, now each one of them has a platform, so they can lobby with money the politicians but also the public in a way more effective way

    • @user-gz4ve8mw9l
      @user-gz4ve8mw9l 3 года назад +2

      @@AbdulGoodLooks You still won't get better deals unfortunately, yet true. The wealthy individuals and entities will swoop in and buy them all up. So I wouldn't get your hopes up even when it crashes here...

  • @Voyagerthe2nd
    @Voyagerthe2nd 3 года назад +60

    Comment section seems too civilized. Let me invite some boomers who watch Sky News to accuse millennials of being lazy. The comment section will be a shitshow

  • @chrismyofb4909
    @chrismyofb4909 3 года назад +15

    Missed another issue w/ the boomers having a greater share of wealth: they’re living longer. Obv not an issue when they were young - until you consider that they are living longer than their predecessors. The greatest generation and priors were dying and retiring much earlier. Even before considering they were a smaller portion of the population.

  • @all4LOVE4all
    @all4LOVE4all 3 года назад +33

    Im surprised that you didn't address older people working longer and living longer .
    Creating a promotion ceiling for gen x which created a ceiling for the millennials etc

  • @Eggmancan
    @Eggmancan 3 года назад +110

    And the thing about this discussion is: most of us Millennials don't even want to be rich. We just want to be able to afford to live without working our fingers to the bone. We are working longer hours for less pay in a less affordable world. There is clearly enough wealth in our society to take care of everybody, yet society has chosen to give more and more money to the people who already have yachtfuls of it. It's super frustrating.

    • @PulsatingShadow
      @PulsatingShadow 3 года назад +8

      Blatant exploitation.

    • @sparcx86channel42
      @sparcx86channel42 3 года назад +1

      That's a misunderstanding milenials do wants to be rich

    • @jamesp9226
      @jamesp9226 3 года назад +2

      In fact this is only in first world countries. If you are a millennial in Vietnam opportunities are endless.

    • @houseis
      @houseis 3 года назад +3

      It's just the way of the world. For there to be a human who can afford to sit around and do nothing all day and drive expensive cars and eat out at fancy restaurants, there has to be 1000 humans who are struggling just to survive. If everyone was rich then no one would be

    • @fatguy6153
      @fatguy6153 3 года назад +8

      @@houseis That’s just not true, the top 1% own 50% of ALL global wealth. Production on average in America alone has increased sixfold since the 80s, yet wages have grown 10%. In the 30s it was predicted we would only have to work 5 hours to live comfortably by the 70s, yet the banks and elite rob the taxpayer and funnel that money into their coffers by abusing the government.
      Every American could easily make 6 figures annually even with the existence of millionaires and an upper class. Millionaires can’t even be considered rich today when people have 100,000 times more than even the millionaires. Do you honestly believe that that wealth was produced rather than stolen and printed?

  • @Phantom2502
    @Phantom2502 3 года назад +12

    The later part about always leaving everything to the next generation that is already pretty much retired when they receive their inheritance, is an issue. Which is why I decided to setup my will to split 50% of my assets between my children, 40% amongst grand children, and 10% in trusts for my great grand children(if and when they exist in my future, if they don't exist when I die then the percentage splits between the higher generations(e.g. 55/45). This way my assets will get split amongst 3 generations, each it will help(retirement, pay off student loans/downpayment for home/start retirement savings boost and save for education for the last generation). Also more likely that wealth will last and won't be blown by a generation that tends to spend every penny they receive. Just wondering why this kind of split for inheritance isn't more common. This way your entire family gets a piece of the pie and a boost when you go, not just the next generation.

  • @monono954
    @monono954 3 года назад +3

    Commenting to please the algorithm. Thank you for your work, EE.
    Your contribution to my knowledge pool is extremely appreciated.

  • @jpm8288
    @jpm8288 3 года назад +175

    I feel like these videos consistently miss the connection between wealth, bargaining power, and government. The largest corporations and wealthy individuals consistently use their wealth to influence laws that benefit themselves, and use their wealth to increase their bargaining power over their workers, politicians, media, and competitors. Think about the fact that Amazon hires military intelligence analysts to monitor where there employees are standing so they don't get a chance to unionize. Think about the fact that that action is clearly immoral yet very legal. Think about how difficult it is for new entrepreneurs to compete on many fronts because their competitors are giants. Its not just wealth being passed down, but the ability to influence the world around you that makes wealth concentration so dangerous. And this wealth is often used to subjugate others into doing their bidding. It is very much a big deal in a capitalist society.

    • @Striker50_
      @Striker50_ 3 года назад +34

      That's why it gets annoying when someone says "sTarT yoUr owN bUsiNesS"

    • @Maid_of_Spiders
      @Maid_of_Spiders 3 года назад +10

      Thank you! This doesnt get mentioned enough on the channel.

    • @onlycorner5565
      @onlycorner5565 3 года назад

      in the last 50 years many made money true connections , knowing the guy AKA the middleman
      tech companies spend more time cutting of unnecessary limbs like middleman and grow much faster
      the oil was the biggest miracle to America (industrial revolution) ,rockefeller had to find the oil and refine it then sell it ,he did not have to spend labor and money growing/creating it
      ruclips.net/video/gGbT0l3LoTs/видео.html

    • @gabrielholland6352
      @gabrielholland6352 3 года назад +2

      *Internationale intensifies*

    • @wigglebot2368
      @wigglebot2368 3 года назад +1

      Politically neutral

  • @mdphotography8676
    @mdphotography8676 3 года назад +404

    If you’re like me, your inheritance will be zero. 🤣

    • @Kariudosan
      @Kariudosan 3 года назад +12

      Just like your (our) Social Security benefits

    • @taegunkim5052
      @taegunkim5052 3 года назад +21

      “Inheritance”? You mean the thing I have to leave behind for my nieces and nephews because their parents are already massively in debt?
      What crazy world do you live in that you have parents giving money to their children and can I come over?

    • @gilbertmccray522
      @gilbertmccray522 3 года назад +3

      Was going to have a inheritance than an older family member totally screwed it up.

    • @denisl2760
      @denisl2760 3 года назад +14

      @R J The percentage of people getting $0 for inheritance is skyrocketing I would assume. All the wealth is getting funneled to corporations and very rich individuals at an unprecedented rate.

    • @Homer-OJ-Simpson
      @Homer-OJ-Simpson 3 года назад +1

      Like most people in human history

  • @sirnukealot84
    @sirnukealot84 3 года назад +23

    50+ year old "boomers" lovered my wage so they could keep their business afloat :P
    Hopefully they will raise it next year when things start to look brighter.

    • @Thalanox
      @Thalanox 3 года назад +15

      _"Hopefully they will raise it next year when things start to look brighter."_
      HAH!

    • @andrewgutierrez4841
      @andrewgutierrez4841 2 года назад +4

      Unionize.

  • @Noadvantage246
    @Noadvantage246 3 года назад +1

    You said the wealth gap isn't a problem but left out the very important reality that alot of ppl won't be inheriting anything at all. This puts disenfranchised groups and families trying to fight their way out of generational poverty in a uphill battle. Because even if they managed go from poverty and become just as or even more successful then their peers through their own work as you pointed out their personal earning power is greatly reduced so they'll still be falling further and further behind on a socioeconomic scale.

  • @bgiv2010
    @bgiv2010 3 года назад +350

    All the Millennials making $150K please stand up! Okay, this video is for the five of you. The rest of us are screwed. Pick a relatable example next time.

    • @RobertTempleton64
      @RobertTempleton64 3 года назад +48

      Gen X here. When I had a business (pre-2008), was making ~$60K with few expenses. Since then, making $40K (finally) doing what should pay $80K. It evaporates every paycheck.
      Agreed. The majority of working people in the USA make less than $30K.

    • @isettech
      @isettech 3 года назад +5

      Not screwed, Never made over 80K per year but have nest egg and home nearly paid off. Get rid of debt and the interest payments.

    • @kenrichards1032
      @kenrichards1032 3 года назад +14

      That's when i stopped the video. Lucky to find 60k with a chemical engineering degree at 25.

    • @TonyTheTGR
      @TonyTheTGR 3 года назад +13

      Yeah, you are WAAAAAY off base if you think anything over $40k is common among Millenials. 85% of jobs willing to hire them brick them around $2k/mo tops.

    • @rdrdrd7777
      @rdrdrd7777 3 года назад +3

      @@TonyTheTGR Yes and with the pandemic the corporations will lower that by 15%. Because they know people will be hurting for jobs.

  • @CornishCreamtea07
    @CornishCreamtea07 3 года назад +114

    Me in the 90s
    Old people: We never had it this good, kids today don't even know they are born
    Me in the 20s
    Economics Explained: You've had it worst of all

    • @whartanto2
      @whartanto2 3 года назад +1

      0:48 "Pity Party for Latte Sipping Millenial"

    • @CosmiaNebula
      @CosmiaNebula 3 года назад +1

      What would you see in the -50s?

    • @CornishCreamtea07
      @CornishCreamtea07 3 года назад

      @@CosmiaNebula Well that's another 30+ years

    • @ihl0700677525
      @ihl0700677525 3 года назад +2

      Dude, go to places/countries that experience rapid growth. In last couple of decades, US economy is growing at 2-3% annually, there's simply not a much room for you entitled millennials.
      Go to *Vietnam* or *China* if you want rapid progress.
      Youngsters in those countries experienced much better life than their parents/grandparents because their economy grow at much *rapid pace.*

    • @ihl0700677525
      @ihl0700677525 2 года назад

      @@Elcapitaan5 Yep. *Obviously.* You can't just go there and expect people to treat you like an old acquitances. We are not entitled to their respect and recognition.
      We must *prove our worth,* we must try our best to assimilate well, to speak their language better than them, to know local culture better than the locals, and above all to show our *loyalty* toward our adopted society.
      Maybe they'll accept your children, born and raised in their society. But you will always be a stranger. IMO that's the normal attitude in any highly homogenous society.

  • @Edzter
    @Edzter 3 года назад +16

    i can't wait to spend the tiny amounts of money i saved for the house I will never afford to go to a funeral for my family.

  • @rubbers3
    @rubbers3 3 года назад +6

    Boomers had it lightly, so to speak. Extremely cheap cost of living and acquiring wealth, a lot of room to start businesses, relatively small competition, even despite being a large cohort etc. What also helped, was that they came out after the war, with less wealth accumulated by the previous generations, and well, a lot of people from those generations that died in the war.
    Millenials, on the other hand, were pushed into debt by higher living costs, wealth accumulated by boomers and GenXers, low possibilities to start a new business (either because of large franchises already present or due to a globalised market - your small local grocery store won't survive long, if there's a wallmart in the area, your local electronics shop won't survive long with the likes of Amazon delivering straight to the door), few large recessions in their life, huge competition (due to larger population size overall as well as a globalised market) etc.
    Basically, for a millenial business to get through you need to either go into a niche market or into new technologies. Huge risk, potentially low reward. You could start a, let's say, social media site. What's the possibility it'll survive a year? What's the possibility you'd get a user base? The market for social medias is already saturated. You could try to become a youtuber - what's the probability you'd get lucky enough to be successful? You could go into a more niche market, like swordmaking, simulator equipment (flightsticks, racing wheels, motion rigs) - what's the possibility your niche market will be large enough, that you'd get a large enough slice of it to be somewhat successfull? Those are all very high risk options, usually also requiring a large up-start investment, so you'd either need some outside help (a loan, that a bank won't give you, most likely), or you'd need to save up (which requires enough disposable income to begin with).
    You could go into renewable energy, currently probably the safest new business, but that's pretty much it, among "safe" new businesses.
    Nowadays, to become successful, you need to be successful in the first place, it's sort of the same thing as not being able to get a job, because you don't have enough experience in the field, because all of the jobs require you to have experience in the field.
    Or you need to be extremely lucky, to be in the right place at the right time, hoping that whatever it is you're throwing at the wall will stick, and then have enough skill to take advantage of it.

  • @bgiv2010
    @bgiv2010 3 года назад +125

    "Earning good incomes, living below their means, and saving the difference" seems antithetical to taking on risk, starting a business, and making investments. I'm not sure frugality is the path to wealth so much as stability.

    • @laur-unstagenameactuallyca1587
      @laur-unstagenameactuallyca1587 3 года назад +1

      thank you.

    • @SardineBreath28
      @SardineBreath28 3 года назад +6

      I think he's saying the difference saved between a frugal and frivolous spender can set you up if you save and invest in stable, diverse portfolios. This one seems to go hand in hand with his "FIRE Retirement" video he did a monthish ago

    • @quantifiablyqorrect2905
      @quantifiablyqorrect2905 3 года назад +1

      You still need to live somewhere. You can either pay your own debt that you can use later, or someone elses in which you cant

    • @amsd1231
      @amsd1231 3 года назад +2

      You underestimate compounding. In the past interest rate was much higher and it was possible to save and money and build wealth. If you can find an investment that returns 14% annually, wouldn't you invest in it? Well that was the base interest rate in the 70s.

    • @laur-unstagenameactuallyca1587
      @laur-unstagenameactuallyca1587 3 года назад +1

      @@amsd1231 not anymore, that's the point. saving nowadays will not make you wealthy, risks will. saving will just give you stability.

  • @SCBbestof
    @SCBbestof 3 года назад +469

    0:10 "People put countless hours of thought and planning into things like their children education"
    Meanwhile in the video: 0*4=4
    lol

    • @Lordblow1
      @Lordblow1 3 года назад +19

      Impressive that you spotted that XD

    • @c182SkylaneRG
      @c182SkylaneRG 3 года назад +24

      And 4*3=72, by the looks of it...

    • @blacksnow7106
      @blacksnow7106 3 года назад +6

      @@c182SkylaneRG i think that one is correct, some people "/" of the "1" is longer than usual

    • @elliott8175
      @elliott8175 3 года назад

      @@blacksnow7106 Perhaps, but those people are categorically WRONG. *troll tone*

    • @availablehage
      @availablehage 3 года назад

      @@c182SkylaneRG 12 I think

  • @InfiniteLegoWorks
    @InfiniteLegoWorks 3 года назад +57

    I dunno chief, I think I'd like that 30% back in the 70's over 3% today. At least back then you could somewhat reliably progress your life without the soul-crushing burden of debt and poverty :v

    • @ihl0700677525
      @ihl0700677525 3 года назад +3

      Dude, go to places/countries that experience rapid growth. America is growing at 2-3% annually, go to Vietnam or China if you want rapid progress.
      Youngsters in those countries experienced much better life than their parents/grandparents because their ecomony grow at rapid pace.

    • @InfiniteLegoWorks
      @InfiniteLegoWorks 3 года назад +2

      Massive student loan debt, a shrinking jobs market, recessions at the most inopportune times for both Millenials and the Zoomers that plague everyone but the richest people in the country.
      "Just get a job" doesn't work when the problem is systemic :v

    • @ihl0700677525
      @ihl0700677525 3 года назад +1

      _"student loan debt"_
      Nobody force you to take those loans, you took that financial decision on your own free will and therefore you should be responsible for it. Asking others (i.e. taxpayers) to pay for your stupid mistake is just laughable.
      _"shrinking job market, recession at the most inopportune times.."_
      Your struggle is neither unique nor especially difficult. The "greatest generation" suffered 1929 market crash and then have to fight in WW2. Also the "silent generation" whose members fought in both WW1 and WW2 and go thru all the economic hardship in between.
      "Baby Boomer generation" enjoy so much prosperity from the hardwork and perseverance of the "greatest generation". Now us "millenials" and "zoomers" have the honor to bear the burden so the next gen might enjoy prosperity.
      50 years in the future our descendant will judge us. I hope they will remember us fondly, like how we remember the "silent generation" and the "greatest generation", and not a *failed good-for-nothing generation of lazy entitled morons.*

    • @malcolmrose3361
      @malcolmrose3361 3 года назад

      @@InfiniteLegoWorks Perhaps you should have trained as a plumber, or other tradesman rather than go to university? People are going to need their toilets unblocked for the foreseeable future.

  • @Eassle
    @Eassle 2 года назад

    You actually make economics fun to listen to. While I'm working and can just listen to you with my ear buds about what's going on in the world is nice. Thank you.

  • @HumanExperience-EN
    @HumanExperience-EN 3 года назад +70

    "An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics." - Plutarch

    • @UnipornFrumm
      @UnipornFrumm 3 года назад +6

      When the rich become way more rich then the poor,or the poor are way to many,bad things start to happen

    • @Thalanox
      @Thalanox 3 года назад +5

      "Tolerance is the last virtue of a dying society."

    • @shorewall
      @shorewall 3 года назад +6

      The middle class is the only bulwark against the power of the elites. So the elites pit the poor against the middle class, and divide and conquer.

    • @Pistolita221
      @Pistolita221 2 года назад +1

      shhh, shhh, this is NORMAL we are not rome circa 469AD, or USSR circa 1988 with riots, empty shelves, diluted oligarchs, a ravenous military, and a poor standing with all our neighbors from decades of senseless violence in the middle east (Afghanistan is the graveyard of empires, cause herion's bad).

  • @andreasapei2859
    @andreasapei2859 3 года назад +108

    You should make a video on what GenZ will have to face in the future, it'd be interesting to see what challenges and opportunities there will be for them (well, us)

    • @boxr_4214
      @boxr_4214 3 года назад +29

      nah i like having actual hope for my future

    • @quintiax
      @quintiax 3 года назад +35

      @@boxr_4214 That'll be $12.99 a month then, hope doesn't grow on trees.

    • @bluemountain4181
      @bluemountain4181 3 года назад +6

      It will be interesting to see what happens to the children of Millenials too. Unlike the Millenials they don't even have the same level of support from their Boomer parents and unless Millenials manage to reform the economic system they'll be in an even worse state.

    • @briandiehl9257
      @briandiehl9257 3 года назад +8

      " it'd be interesting to see what challenges -and opportunities- there will be for them

    • @denisl2760
      @denisl2760 3 года назад +17

      @@bluemountain4181 Millenials can afford to have children? News to me. The only Millenials having kids are on welfare and their kids will be on welfare.

  • @houseis
    @houseis 3 года назад +5

    Houses in my city are now around 2 million dollars each. Apartments 1 million. Complete dump 1 bedroom flat 450k. Even a doctor and lawyer couple with no kids cant really afford a house. Chinese buying all the property, my sister was outbid at 4 different houses by chinese in a row. You either inherit or are some successful businessmen to own a house now. Middle class is getting steamrolled out. My country doesnt have covid as well

    • @Loykaz
      @Loykaz 3 года назад

      Where is this?

    • @houseis
      @houseis 3 года назад +1

      @@Loykaz auckland, new zealand

    • @betterhomesnc2437
      @betterhomesnc2437 3 года назад

      It will happen in the US soon as well. The new admin wants to open real estate up to foreign investments.

    • @GhostOfAMachine
      @GhostOfAMachine 2 года назад

      Didn't New Zealand pass law aggainst foreign investors?

    • @houseis
      @houseis 2 года назад

      @@GhostOfAMachine yes but they find ways around if. Someone disallowed to immigrate if they ring lots of business to the country or are highly skilled such as doctors. The family funnels their money to that one person who starts buying lots of property etc.

  • @taihung7912
    @taihung7912 3 года назад +1

    incredible!!! and hardwork, Anmol Singh does alot more to make sure such level of profit is generated... its just pure natural intuition

  • @devanshtripathi8313
    @devanshtripathi8313 3 года назад +278

    It's a completely different story in emerging markets though.
    Gen Z might very vell be the Baby Boomers in countries like India, Vietnam, China, Bangladesh, Nigeria etc. But they still have to make a lot of things right to get there.

    • @devanshtripathi8313
      @devanshtripathi8313 3 года назад +6

      @@economicsmatters7507 sure I'll check it bro

    • @devchatterjee6553
      @devchatterjee6553 3 года назад +4

      India super power when?

    • @namhoang6569
      @namhoang6569 3 года назад +48

      Not true man, I am a 20 year old vietnamese, and I can tell you that it is very hard for young people to buy houses/apartment in big cities, like the capital(Ha Noi) or Ho Chi Minh city, where prices of 1 square meter of an apartment averages out at 1.337 USD, while the average annual income is about 5500 USD, real estate prices in big cities in Vietnam has skyrocketed since the 2000's. If you want to buy a house(not an apartment/condo), the average price is 4500 usd/square meter(in Ha Noi)

    • @PritishPrabhu
      @PritishPrabhu 3 года назад +14

      Yeah it makes sense that the generation having the largest influence by sheer numbers will be better off than the generation that is a numerical minority. But when you also think about it, the millennials in the US struggle more than millennials in an emerging market country because they might be chasing their dreams in the wrong place. Imagine a millennial in the US looking for opportunities in a third world country where housing is also much cheaper. Sure, he would have to compromise his standard of living right now but in the future he would have attained a lot more wealth when that emerging market is now a full fledged robust global economy.

    • @mvalthegamer2450
      @mvalthegamer2450 3 года назад +3

      Lets not forget that all those countries have free college

  • @ik2254
    @ik2254 3 года назад +53

    Cyberpunk checklist so far for 2020:
    √ 90% of all wealth in hands of 1% of people
    √ advanced communications tech
    √ robotics
    √ synth music genres are on the rise
    × cybernetics (on standy)
    × lawlessness that comes due to corporations becoming more powerful than the governments

    • @Melnek1
      @Melnek1 3 года назад +1

      I think you are mistaken, 1% does not own 90% of wealth, only half.... But if it's any consolation 0.1% has half of 1%'s wealth... then revenge at last!

    • @cupofgreentea
      @cupofgreentea 3 года назад +1

      amazon is catching up haha

    • @wat2999
      @wat2999 3 года назад +1

      Not sure how you missed plexiglass barriers at the gas station and 400 lb morbidly obese people wearing Hazmat suits but walking around with a cart full of candy, chips, and soda at grocery store thinking they are "saving lives" on their way to a heart attack. Oh and throw 40-60 million unemployed on the list as well.

    • @alphajackal6648
      @alphajackal6648 3 года назад

      We do actually have cybernetics, in that we have machines that interface with the human nervous system via integration with our biology. We also have plenty of corporations who are essentially immune to law because they control the lawmakers.

    • @Ginronmaster1994
      @Ginronmaster1994 3 года назад +1

      Probably should have checked off the last one too since our (US) laws by and large don't apply to the wealthy.

  • @CosmiaNebula
    @CosmiaNebula 3 года назад +4

    I have an idea for an episode: economics of studying and working abroad.
    It seems like it is getting more and more worthwhile for Americans to just go study and work somewhere else. It feels a bit ironic to say this because I'm Chinese and we used to think of getting to study and work in America a giant dream, but it's getting less and less attractive now, compared to other countries like Canada, Australia, Germany, the UK, France, etc...

    • @sniper0073088
      @sniper0073088 2 года назад

      Americans could also just fix thier own university system instead of going to developed countries to profit from thier government financed universities

    • @meltaylor2339
      @meltaylor2339 2 года назад

      The uk? Way more Americans of a younger generation own a home than the british.

  • @allanox
    @allanox 3 года назад +1

    It's nice to see part of my home town - Warsaw (Wola district to be precise) at 15:55 when "growth" is being mentioned, quite remarkable how dynamic this city has become.

  • @vinczeszilard5155
    @vinczeszilard5155 3 года назад +584

    So to summarize, the Boomers had:
    1. cheaper living costs
    2. higher earnings
    3. higher savings potential
    4. The biggest growth that will be never seen again
    The millennials have:
    1. higher living costs (many spends 50% or more of their earned money for rent + food)
    2. stagnated wages
    3. lower savings potential due to point 1. and 2. and the shift to consumer based economy \society (only subscription, owning nothing for example)
    4. starting debt from required education to have any decent job
    5. no foreseeable major growth potential that is comparable to the the Boomer one
    6. extreme jump in housing prices and entry to owning a flat\house
    Overall...our only saving grace will be the point when the Boomers die off and we inherit their money? Talk about a sad life.

    • @daly_powerandphysique
      @daly_powerandphysique 3 года назад +81

      Most boomers have horrible health practices so they may spend it all before any of could be passed down.

    • @vincenterodriguez6099
      @vincenterodriguez6099 3 года назад +7

      @@daly_powerandphysique the US has free healthcare for those over 65 aka medicaid so you're wrong.

    • @andoli1646
      @andoli1646 3 года назад +73

      @@vincenterodriguez6099 subsidized not free you can still be hit with high Healthcare costs if you get really sick

    • @louisfaasen4511
      @louisfaasen4511 3 года назад +33

      no, with companies and family trusts in place, they will keep on ruling their wealth from the grave. we going to get nothing!

    • @davidcooks2379
      @davidcooks2379 3 года назад +5

      And that's why Covid is a blessing in disguise. Let's precipitate the process by opening up the economy

  • @economicsinaction
    @economicsinaction 3 года назад +85

    10:07
    How recruiters be responding to the 2000 applicants for that minimum wage job these days

  • @therealcomicopera
    @therealcomicopera 2 года назад +4

    "The dream of children being wealthier than their parents... they just have to wait until the inheritance check comes."
    Yes EE, the living are wealthier than the dead.

  • @JMnyJohns
    @JMnyJohns 3 года назад +3

    Great as always. Painful to watch in some ways, but informative. Thanks.

  • @scoldingwhisper
    @scoldingwhisper 3 года назад +86

    i got "temporarily" laid off by a bunch of rich boomers and cant even get my money im legally owed.

    • @Mythhammer
      @Mythhammer 3 года назад +10

      I'm betting it wasn't the Boomers choice to lay you off. It was one of the War Lords whose dictates closed down their business, because of an hysterical over reaction to covid.

    • @scoldingwhisper
      @scoldingwhisper 3 года назад +9

      @@Mythhammer the company i worked for is owned by one of the biggest investment firms in the country. the CEO of that company is also in the canadian senate. the Senate is the most powerful position in canadian government and is a non elected position. bit of a conflict of interest with that guy having both jobs at once

    • @Mythhammer
      @Mythhammer 3 года назад +5

      @@scoldingwhisper Sorry to hear that. From what I'm seeing the Canadian central government is almost as corrupt as DC is. Best of luck to you and yours. We are all going to need it.

    • @Thalanox
      @Thalanox 3 года назад +5

      _"cant even get my money im legally owed."_
      Oh, don't be so glum, chum! I'm sure if you spend between $80k to $300k in legal fees as well as a decade of your life fighting it out in the courts, you have a decent chance to get your severance pay of what I assume is no more than $50k.

    • @panchovilla7580
      @panchovilla7580 3 года назад +3

      I lost my job as well due to panicking Boomers and Gen xers shutting down the economy. Being in your 20s in this generation sucks. Literally impossible to build anything if they can just down the country and take your job at any time over some bs like this.

  • @sternendrache
    @sternendrache 3 года назад +57

    0:13
    0 * 4 = 4 ?
    sounds about right

    • @EconomicsExplained
      @EconomicsExplained  3 года назад +29

      Should have paid more for that education :P

    • @arrielradja5522
      @arrielradja5522 3 года назад +7

      My education is failing I don't understand

    • @sinenominee1454
      @sinenominee1454 3 года назад

      @@arrielradja5522 if you have 0 units andyou multiply it by 4 you still have 0 units because you started with none

    • @ThexXxXxOLOxXxXx
      @ThexXxXxOLOxXxXx 3 года назад

      @@sinenominee1454 No it's just a rule in math anything multiplied by 0 will equal 0, nothing to do with anything.

    • @arrielradja5522
      @arrielradja5522 3 года назад +1

      @SilentwarH thanks

  • @kythrathesuntamer9715
    @kythrathesuntamer9715 3 года назад +6

    If corporate America wants to maintain it's goldilocks zone of consumers then it's going to have to Pay some of us millennials like royalty at ENTRY LEVEL AND Leave room for advancement.
    Because anything less and we're not going to have much to go around.

  • @vvav
    @vvav 3 года назад +5

    Can't wait till I'm 60 years old and that wealth finally trickles down. Maybe then I can buy a house and start a family!

  • @gustavssteinbergs349
    @gustavssteinbergs349 3 года назад +74

    Isnt it more like owning 30% of Amazon at beginning and owning 3% of Amazon now?

    • @e7venjedi
      @e7venjedi 3 года назад +5

      I think the argument is that we have better TVs and smartphones, so that makes up for most of our income going to the owners of the houses/apartments.
      Where can I trade my smartphone in to be able to own my house?... 'cause I like that deal.

  • @taxavoider9889
    @taxavoider9889 3 года назад +18

    Thanks for this channel, it's seriously made me consider studying economics for uni

    • @EconomicsExplained
      @EconomicsExplained  3 года назад

      It's a great and very diverse subject, you can do alot of things with it professionally as well. Would definately recomend.

    • @saasda6255
      @saasda6255 3 года назад +1

      @@EconomicsExplained im scared of the maths aspects of it and whether to study finance or economics

    • @teetheeconomist352
      @teetheeconomist352 3 года назад

      @@saasda6255 Hi Hi! Econ was one of my majors (hence the name lol). I didn't have any math until my senior level and was able to get with some upper classmen & use coleege resources to get ahead of the curve. Dont let it scare you away; it was a great decision!❤ Best wishes in college.

    • @saasda6255
      @saasda6255 3 года назад +1

      @@teetheeconomist352 thanks tee ive given you a sub for your advice cant wait for you to start your channel so i can watch your video

    • @teetheeconomist352
      @teetheeconomist352 3 года назад

      @@saasda6255 Thank you! I can wait to start sharing what I have in store.🥰

  • @cnnewyam
    @cnnewyam 3 года назад +2

    There are other factors that are unfortunately not mentioned:
    -Increased Taxes (income, sales, gas etc)
    -New taxes (inheritance, real estate)
    -To get a mortgage there needs to be more capital upfront (up to 25% instead of 5%) and it‘s harder to get approved
    -Houses are generally more expensive than a few decades ago
    -Increased commute time bc the affordable homes have relocated outside (-> more mileage, higher cost of living, less quality of life which brings other expenses)
    -More qualification is needed to get a middle class job (you need at least a bachelor/master for a job which previously you did not) which means you need a degree that costs a shitton more than a few decades ago
    Not impossible to get wealth but the barrier is way higher for Millenials than Gen X & Boomers.

  • @terrillmel
    @terrillmel 3 года назад +5

    Can we point out that the growth in wealth has come from asset values increasing and not from wages. This poses a problem and frustratration as assets are becoming more difficult to purchase solely on hourly wages. Young families are losing hope and are required to work multiple jobs with multiple earners to stay afloat.

  • @AJearth
    @AJearth 3 года назад +224

    "Pictured: millenials in their natural habitat"
    Millenials: are we a joke to you?

    • @TENNSUMITSUMA
      @TENNSUMITSUMA 3 года назад +1

      What?!

    • @michaelb8559
      @michaelb8559 3 года назад +13

      Yes.

    • @user-rx9ny4yo2e
      @user-rx9ny4yo2e 3 года назад +7

      Yes

    • @lokijordan
      @lokijordan 3 года назад +2

      @マナンナンアナメ You misunderstand- we Boomers are not the biggest joke. We are having the biggest laugh- because we're not broke.

    • @af5377
      @af5377 3 года назад +3

      Milennials and boomers have a lot in common: both are self important people and love complaining about everything lol

  • @randeep6346
    @randeep6346 3 года назад +64

    Younger people are also delaying having kids (like me) I might be in my early 40's before I start considering having kids, my mum had me in her early 20's! While my Kids will have grandparents to help them (I hope), the generation after... I might be in my 80's! This will be massive when it comes to the cost of raising kids which is already high.

    • @garethbaus5471
      @garethbaus5471 3 года назад +4

      Interesting point, my father is already older than his mother was when I was born and i am probably at least a decade away from having children at the rate I am going.

    • @mitch2832
      @mitch2832 3 года назад +4

      and this adds to the reason the governments are so keen for immigration

    • @jong2359
      @jong2359 3 года назад +7

      Why would anyone in the younger generations (35 or younger) be considering having kids? You would be absolutely irresponsible to bring a child into THIS world.

    • @shr3dgaming905
      @shr3dgaming905 3 года назад +1

      Yea, I'm pretty much an antinatalist until humanity takes a radical stand for climate change.

    • @John-wf5if
      @John-wf5if 3 года назад +3

      @Mackie Is Not here All these women not having kids are gonna regret their choice.

  • @lolwtf428
    @lolwtf428 2 года назад +2

    Of all the jobs held by both boomers and millennials, I loved that you picked an actuary as the sensible saver/investor for your example!

  • @johnrichmond.4783
    @johnrichmond.4783 3 года назад +26

    I'm surprised there was no discussion of longevity. I thought the essential danger was not younger people awaiting their inheritance. Instead, I thought the question was one of the vast, and wholly new, costs of medicated 'life extension'. This being up to 120 years or so and will completely consume inheritance and nest eggs for the old middle classes.

    • @shorewall
      @shorewall 3 года назад

      Longer life is what everyone wants, but you gotta pay for it.

  • @Hawxxfan
    @Hawxxfan 3 года назад +28

    I think it is important to remember that when baby boomers were our age, people didn't frequently live into their 80s and 90s. Now that people live that long, you have to account for those older folks "hanging on" to their wealth for longer (aka not dying yet) which would make current-day millennials look poorer in comparison

    • @GangsterWu
      @GangsterWu 3 года назад

      Isn't Rona taking care of that with all that misinformation and protests going on?

    • @terricon4
      @terricon4 3 года назад

      I and most others have no real problem with older folks living longer, or having millions of dollars or anything. I and most others I think just want to have enough ourselves to be able to have a place to stay, food to eat, and while I doubt it'll ever happen some actual good healthcare and stability in life. I don't care about the difference right now, I care about the relative difference of each group when at 20 years old, or at 30 or such.
      I think people who worked hard should be rewarded in their retimerment, I think people who work hard should be rewarded in their earlier lives as well. But if I'm at 30 going to have a fraction the relative wealth of a boomer had, and probably at 70 going to have a tiny house with minimal savings if lucky, still renting or in debt (or dead) if unlucky, while the boomer is in their decent house yet with good savings and pension plans when they are 70 now... That's the issue. Now granted the economy has it's ups and downs, but if we're having down right now then it's a problem that the ones feeling it the most in many cases on their current quality of life are the younger generation. Older generation loses 30% and it's a lot more they lost, sure... but they still have so much more left over their quality of life may often have minimal loss. While that 30% on the younger side is the difference between eating well or not or having a place to stay.

    • @washizukanorico
      @washizukanorico 3 года назад

      COVID might be part of the solution, not the problem after all ...

  • @TheTrueMorningStar
    @TheTrueMorningStar 3 года назад +106

    I can imagine that this is only going to get worse as life extension technology starts rolling out over the next few decades. What happens when the older generations start having an average life span of 100 years, or 150 years, or effectively infinite if we find the preverbal fountain of youth? This may seem crazy but it is already starting happen with every generation living longer then the last and it is accelerating as well with the advent of new technologies such a Crispr.

    • @TheYgds
      @TheYgds 3 года назад +6

      With the maturity of such projects, it is very unlikely. Average life-spans I believe are predicted to decrease with future generations in Western culture countries, primarily due to poor diet and lack of exercise. This will at least off-set things temporarily as science and more importantly governmental regulation of the use of that science catches up. CRISPR is very unlikely to deliver any real changes to the aging problem within the next few hundred years, it can do many things, but we have yet to ascertain all of the details of how aging works or how to reverse it. I have a colleague who has shown quite well that even the well known telomere shortening as a root cause is probably incorrect, and instead telomere instability contributes more to cellular senescence. The first implementations will very likely be carcinogenic, since the prospect of reversing or preventing cellular senescence calls up activation of genes known to be oncogenic. Antioxidants or prevention of total body oxidation is also unlikely to be a major contributor to slowing aging, but instead it may be that increasing oxidative signaling in the body helps prevent the onset of aging. Therefore, taking in antioxidants in excess may in fact induce aging rather than prevent it. Higher concentrations of reactive oxygen species in the elderly have actually been found to be an effect of aging, the body's effort to increase signals that delay cellular senescence and cell death. Unless bans against unethical human experimentation are lifted, the progress in this field will be egregiously slow, despite what you may have heard from some evangelists (with long beards) would have you believe.
      I think the lifespan issue will be the slowest impactful contributor, although it will, in a couple hundred years or more, which is somewhat comforting.

    • @user-gr9lx3oz3t
      @user-gr9lx3oz3t 3 года назад +4

      *Proverbial.
      Also CRISPR won't help the boomers. It will help make designer babies tho who will have "perfect" genes.

    • @SkyWKing
      @SkyWKing 3 года назад +2

      You got this right. Boomers have to hold on to their wealth in case they got terribly sick. It's either them or their children paying for the hospital bill. We know it makes little sense to spend most of our life savings to sustain our lives for a few months, but most of us do it nonetheless. Our instinctive fear for death drives up the cost of sustaining life at old age and as a result older generations have to hoard wealth. The only solution is when true biological immortality becomes widely available, in which case birth rate goes down dramatically and eventually most of living human being are 'old' by today's standards.

    • @kinvert
      @kinvert 3 года назад

      The way to fix this is to stop taxing us to pay for old people.

    • @MrCTruck
      @MrCTruck 3 года назад +1

      And all their servants cannot have enough kids to replenish the population so one way things will go back to balance, what we lose in that process however is another, more tragic story

  • @simonsalaev2520
    @simonsalaev2520 3 года назад +1

    Economics is not the most fun subject for many people, but the fact that this channel has almost 700,000 subscribers shows that anything can be interesting. Thanks Economics Explained!

  • @TheNewSchoolGamer
    @TheNewSchoolGamer 3 года назад +5

    As a middle of the pack Millenial, I'm not banking on the wealth transfer from inheritance. Gotta get creative and and leverage time. So many Boomers got crush by the crash of '08 and now "Rona." The next downturn won't help the situation either.

  • @Jennnings
    @Jennnings 3 года назад +3

    On the bright side (always trying to find one, because I'm NOT a boomer) - Less wealth, less ability consume = less waste and slower march to our destruction of this planet and our resources. In some ways, maybe this IS growth - for humanity as a whole.

    • @seriousbees
      @seriousbees 3 года назад +1

      Thats not really a bright side when someone next to you still gets to enjoy rampant consumption

    • @Jennnings
      @Jennnings 3 года назад +1

      @Antoine B. Paquette sadly... we Americans are the 5% of people consuming 24% of the world's energy, and 23%-27% of the world's resources.

    • @Jennnings
      @Jennnings 3 года назад +1

      @Antoine B. Paquette Completely understand the more worldly view, and thank you for sharing. I follow the path of Jesus, hence, and while I'm far from perfect - work hard to be humble and love thy neighbor, regardless of race/country of origin, etc.

  • @ratshinaledzani5471
    @ratshinaledzani5471 3 года назад +30

    as a gen-zer seeing millenials being shown flames financially, i kind of hope we succumb to global warming before I'm thrust into the job market

    • @tyty0075
      @tyty0075 3 года назад +5

      2 months left in 2020 maybe we can still get ww3 to end our pain?

    • @jong2359
      @jong2359 3 года назад +6

      @@tyty0075 I vote for WW3 - Young, Poor, and Angry vs Old, Rich, and Fat.

    • @SCIFIguy64
      @SCIFIguy64 3 года назад +3

      Nah, we're the new boomers. Millennials will inevitably create policies in an attempt to boost their economic outlook in life, but it'll come too late when they're 40-50. So the pension plans and retirement goals will fall to us, and we become the new boomer. You can see it with the greats creating the policies that helped boomers in the 50's and 60"s.

    • @duncanbug
      @duncanbug 3 года назад +7

      I’m one of the younger millennials and I hope once we get into positions of power we help save you zoomers. We need to work together!

    • @og-greenmachine8623
      @og-greenmachine8623 2 года назад

      ?
      As a Gen Xr
      I wanna drag boomers to the home.
      And steal their money for our kids!
      Take care of millennials & we got it made😎

  • @yarguscasual7228
    @yarguscasual7228 3 года назад

    Great video, I love this channel sow mutch u explain this all sow well

  • @crappyslippers6917
    @crappyslippers6917 Год назад +2

    As a young person, I don't believe wealth 'inequality' is the issue here. People don't mind the gap as much as long as their fundamental needs are met... And in the current market, some of those needs, especially housing... Seem very out of reach while at the other end people are sitting on multiple homes while we struggle to save money on our paycheques...

  • @photograph.outdoor2363
    @photograph.outdoor2363 3 года назад +41

    I wish i could find a decent apartment around me for only 1500$ a month.

    • @eriksvensson2098
      @eriksvensson2098 3 года назад +7

      live in a shoebox with 8 others than put money down for a place instead?

    • @faithalonekjv5123
      @faithalonekjv5123 3 года назад

      Get into the tech files-AI, blockchain,
      Programming, etc-then consider leaving America and become a digital nomad.

    • @sparcx86channel42
      @sparcx86channel42 3 года назад +2

      Europe

    • @sparcx86channel42
      @sparcx86channel42 3 года назад +3

      @@faithalonekjv5123 don't be stupid really?

    • @TENNSUMITSUMA
      @TENNSUMITSUMA 3 года назад +2

      1500 for an apartment?! It better be 2 bedroom 2 bathroom!
      In Hagerstown md you can get that for 900-1200/month! May have to commute like a motherf**ker to where any consequential jobs are, but the amount you save being away from the brand name price tag of 'dc meteo area' is probably worth it.

  • @blackred8850
    @blackred8850 3 года назад +7

    Hey economics explained, I’m a senior in high school and I’ve been thinking about what career I want to have and since you are an economist I was wondering could you make a video about being an economist and what it entails? I’ve been looking up things about the job and still don’t really understand it and you are very good at explaining things like this.

    • @Jaapst
      @Jaapst 3 года назад +1

      I think we are doomed to IT....

  • @danellis-jones1591
    @danellis-jones1591 3 года назад +23

    Education, including tertiary education, must be free. It's insane we charge so much for people to become educated and give to the economy and society

  • @nella_asian5
    @nella_asian5 3 года назад +1

    Man I just love your videos. Please can you do economics on video games?

  • @testtest5357
    @testtest5357 3 года назад +3

    I think the problem for developed countries is mostly because of the aggressive expansion policy of big companies. Basically large companies like amazon starting new ventures that you can't compete with as it doesn't matter if they only make losses as they are back by almost infinite money and therefore remain unharmed in times of crisis where they then emerge and take over the market

  • @samspade983
    @samspade983 3 года назад +80

    The statements about the inevitability of the growing wealth gap would be more credible if America was founded in 1950. But it was already nearly 200 years old when the boomers came of age (and it was around before that as a British colony). Is it really inevitable that one generation owns 30% of the wealth at year 200 while another only owns 3% at year 230 at the same stage? Or that one earned 20% more in real terms at the same stage despite a big productivity increase?
    The generational wealth gap is due to very deliberate policy changes. It’s not some natural result of generational progression. The boomers benefited from the highly progressive new deal of the 30s, which they have then systematically dismantled for their own benefit and their children’s loss since Dave 80s. That is the story of the wealth gap in my view.

    • @lisazoria2709
      @lisazoria2709 3 года назад +8

      Exactly. I feel like this guy underplays the deep impact policy has on economic development. Seems like a bit of a blind spot for him.

    • @jellyfrosh9102
      @jellyfrosh9102 3 года назад +15

      The new deal extended the great depression by almost a decade and the vast majority of its policies only helped big businesses. The naive progressives who continue to defend one of the worst policies ever enacted in the US astounds me.
      Going off the gold standard, women in the workforce, and outsourcing all drove down wages. (And when they ran out of things to outsource, they brought in immigrants to work for pennies instead.) Which is why they have stagnated since the early 1970s. Coincidentially that same decade we left the gold standard and women became the norm in the workforce.

    • @ihl0700677525
      @ihl0700677525 3 года назад +2

      Dude, go to places/countries that experience rapid growth. In last couple of decades, US economy is growing at 2-3% annually, there's simply not a much room for you entitled millennials.
      Go to *Vietnam* or *China* if you want rapid progress.
      Youngsters in those countries experienced much better life than their parents/grandparents because their economy grow at much *rapid pace.*

    • @lisazoria2709
      @lisazoria2709 3 года назад +8

      @@jellyfrosh9102
      Congrats, you've managed to show that you're:
      Stupid ✔️
      Racist ✔️
      Sexist ✔️
      Uninformed/ don't know history ✔️
      All in ONE comment, NICE!!! 👏👏👏

    • @Maddie78171
      @Maddie78171 3 года назад +1

      @@ihl0700677525 ok boomer

  • @bigogle
    @bigogle 3 года назад +2

    This would have been a great opportunity to normalise all those mitigating or complicating factors you mentioned. I hope you cover this in more detail in a future video :)

  • @rogerwilco2
    @rogerwilco2 3 года назад +1

    I think it is part of an increasing wealth gap in general.
    Stagnant incomes against increasing costs of education, healthcare and housing are making it much harder to build wealth.
    What I really noticed when I was in the USA last year, is that in every shop I visited, I was *helped by an employee, not an owner.* And many stores were part of large chains.
    This means that in retail, the ownership of the spaces and shops themselves must have really concentrated into a wealthy few, even compared to a decade ago.

  • @quandaledingle8960
    @quandaledingle8960 3 года назад +6

    One critique, when you gave the comparison of college tuition of boomers compared to millennials it would be interesting to hear both the original cost for boomer and cost adjusted for inflation

  • @blitzkriegbear3952
    @blitzkriegbear3952 3 года назад +30

    To sum up the video;
    Not all Boomers are rich, but all Millennials are poor.

    • @marionnette6231
      @marionnette6231 3 года назад

      which is worse than all boomers being rich because now its gonna cause wealth inequality to a huge level in the future. i would tell anyone to live with their parents and simply save most of their lives. either you make enough to sustain yourself or you get your parents help and do your best to live after they pass and you get a heritage

  • @kyleroelofs
    @kyleroelofs 3 года назад

    Another great video Economics Explained, appreciate your info on building generational wealth. Any opinion on building wealth with digital real estate? Basically owning websites that generate leads for small businesses. When I started in virtual real estate, I was working full time, now I'm able to just do the local lead gen that I got from Ippei Kanehara. It took a few months to get the hang of, but now I've got a tree site in Denver that's been paying me for 9 months like clockwork.