Conversation #28: Introducing Millennial Economics (January 21, 2018)

Welcome back! This week: Grace and I talk about our holidays, our family walk yesterday, and our recent get-togethers with local activist groups. Then we launch into a big topic that we hope to develop in more detail in 2018: millennial economics. We start with an essay by Umar Haque about how America has exploited instead of supported the millennial generation in ways that will have life-long impacts on their lives — and those lives will in fact be shorter than they should be, because of it. Then, a brief piece by Hamilton Nolan about how the 401(k) system has not and will not solve our retirement problems (this is of course not just an issue for millennials), and how auto-enrolling can actually result in worsening the long-term financial situation of participants. And finally, a long-form piece by Michael Hobbes that explains why millennials face financial conditions not seen since the Great Depression. If you are allergic to online animations, note that a printable version is available, but it’s still a big article (45 printed pages), so consider printing it two pages to the printed page, or read it online.

How to Listen

You can find the MP3 file here.

The Podcast feed is here.

The Podcast channel on YouTube is here.

More Information

The e-book Grace mentioned, Design-It-Yourself Clothes: Patternmaking Simplified by Cal Patch is available here.

Umair Haque’s article “(How) America Ate Its Young: Or, How a Society Destroys its Own Future” can be found here.

Hamilton Nolan’s article “Oh Damn, 401(k)s Aren’t Magic” can be found here

Michael Hobbes’ long-form article “FML” is available in two forms. The one with all the graphics and animations can be found here. A print-friendly version can be found here.