The Daily Circuit

Are Millennials the cheapest generation?

10:20 AM, August 29, 2012

LISTEN

We've heard a lot recently about Millennials and their economic woes. The generation is having trouble finding jobs, drowning in mountains of debt and living with their parents to make ends meet.

In a recent story, The Atlantic, called it "The Cheapest Generation" as young people continue to hold off on the purchasing of cars and houses. But is that due to their economic struggles or a changing ideology on major purchases?

From The Atlantic:

The Great Recession is responsible for some of the decline. But it's highly possible that a perfect storm of economic and demographic factors--from high gas prices, to re-¬urbanization, to stagnating wages, to new technologies enabling a different kind of consumption--has fundamentally changed the game for Millennials. The largest generation in American history might never spend as lavishly as its parents did--nor on the same things. Since the end of World War II, new cars and suburban houses have powered the world's largest economy and propelled our most impressive recoveries. Millennials may have lost interest in both.

The authors of this story, Derek Thompson and Jordan Weissman, join The Daily Circuit Wednesday to discuss the phenomenon and the long-term outlook on car and house sales in America.

Why aren't young people buying cars and houses? Comment on the blog.

comments powered by Disqus
Listen Now

MPR News Radio

Hourly Newscast

The Daily Circuit Blog

Economy, Business & Jobs:

Op-ed pick: The Senate’s guest worker program will provide a flexible workforce

"The size of the guest-worker program is designed to adjust automatically in response to changing U.S. labor needs, growing in good years when the economy needs more foreign workers and shrinking when more Americans are out of work."

News & Trends:

3 things to buy at the farmers market this weekend

After we taped the Friday Roundtable, I asked the panelists what we should pick up at the farmer’s market this weekend. Stephanie Meyer recommends morels. Amy Thielen says to buy dandelion greens if you can find them. Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl’s a fan of rhubarb: Here’s what you can do with rhubarb. I like to cook…