Posted on 08/24/2015 12:14:08 PM PDT by Enlightened1
There are times when excessive attention to monthly data reporting what’s up, what’s down, can be allowed to obscure underlying structural changes in an economy.
With the game of what-will-Yellen-do-next in full flow, this is one of those times.
No, the proverbial tectonic plates are not shifting, whatever that phrase might mean when applied to an economy other than one in the throes of an irreversible Margaret Thatcher-style revolution.
But there are significant trends underway, trends that are unlikely to be reversed and which, as they play out, will result in an American economy considerably different from the one we have today.
Perhaps the most notable is the change in how Americans choose to live.
We seem to be in what might be called “the full-closet era.” No more stuff. More “experiences.”
Consumers are spending more but department stores, from Macy’s, a dominant player in that sector (sales at stores open at least a year down 2.1 percent), to Kohl’s (sales flat, profits down), are watching those dollars pass them by as consumers use their money for gym memberships, to dine out, travel, buy apps, and find more and more unfree uses for their cell phones.
Perhaps the only sector in which stuff trumps experience is the booming auto sector, but even there much of the increased revenue and profit is coming from the experiences consumers want their cars to deliver in addition to getting them from here to there: videos in the back seats to reduce the incidence of the famous question, “Are we there yet, mommy?”; Apple CarPlay in the front to provide the driver access to unlimited musical entertainment; heated and air-cooled steering wheels.
(Excerpt) Read more at weeklystandard.com ...
That sounds like he's trying to put the best spin possible on the fact that younger generations are poorer, housing prices are higher and as a result, younger generations can't afford a house or the stuff to put in it. This all results from one government policy or another.
Old Style: Get married at 23. Have kids. Save money. Buy a House.
New Style: Live at home until you are 30. Think about getting married. Get married. Have maybe one kid. Think about buying a house. Think about it some more. Buy a condo.
Why should we be surprised to see home ownership decline?
You left one out.
I am in the older generation, and there is no mortgage on the house. But stagnant wages, constantly increasing living expenses, not the least of which is TAXES on everything, are causing it to become less and less affordable to even keep up, without having any mortgage or car payments. And I am not susceptible to the fancy cell phone packages, cable TV add-ons, satellite radio, or many of the other “monthly plans” that are tempting to the younger generation.
Obama-Biden economy headline.
Millennials have not been buying cars. The auto journalists all write stories about how millennials are a problem for auto manufacturers because they “like public transportations” or “chose to live in dense urban environs,” or “don’t get excited about cars like previous generations.”
The truth, it turns out, is/was that millennial can’t afford cars. With a slight uptick in employment prospects and cheaper gas came a rash of car purchases by all groups, millennials included. As good as leftists are at cognitive dissonance, the auto journalists couldn’t bring themselves to write about summer recoveries, and poor millenials at the same time.
this damned magic negro sure has done one heck of a job hasn’t he?
Worthless piece of mooselimb crap
NO economic recovery for 7 years and NO clue.
Exactly and agree 100%!
Indeed!
Boy it is just good news all around for Obama!
Meanwhile, you have a younger generation that has been priced out of the market by these inflated home prices. This is further exacerbated by the enormous debt burden (college debt, rampant consumer spending as young adults, etc.) they carry withy them when they enter the work force for the first time.
The end result is a huge bit of irony, with an older generation that thinks it owns considerable assets just because a bank appraiser told them so ... even while very few people can actually afford to buy those assets at their appraised values.
Yep and the cult followers/Kool-Aid drinkers keep pointing the finger everywhere else. They are 100% completely in denial and insane.
One of the biggest problems is utilities, with minimums, service fees, new charges every month.
If I ever move again, I'd definitely rent. Or take cheap cruises full time.
The Obama Democrat part time economy has forced a lot of people into semi-retirement.
I don’t understand how the home ownership rate in 1965 was as high as it is now. Nice houses in the best parts of Southern California sold for much less than $40,000 in 1972. Those same houses today sell for more than $1.5 million.
Oh balderash!! The economy is doing just fine. I heard it on the news just a couple days ago.
oops. I meant to say that I don’t understand how the home ownership rate in 1965 is as LOW as it is today. In 1965 it was easy to buy a house.
Really Old Style: Get married at 18, have kids right away, buy a small 3 bedroom-1 bath house. Kids are through college, have jobs and live next door when you are early 40’s. Then you amass your retirement wealth. No need to downsize your by now paid for home, just update it and you’re good to go.
Who the heck could ever imagine buying an Apple watch, for example?
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