Re:Young 'to be poorer than parents at every stage of life'
by cryoshon on Tuesday November 24, 2015 @11:36AM
(#10621773)
That's a good point, actually. Dropping cost of typical consumer goods and food really masks how much more money gets thrown into credentialism, rent, and healthcare. This fact means that it's easy to pick up a new X and fill your apartment with Y, but it's nearly impossible to pay off your student loans or move out of your parent's house. Low cost of goods allows people to be massively in debt but not starving to death.
Re:Young 'to be poorer than parents at every stage of life'
by roymurdock on Tuesday November 24, 2015 @11:35AM
(#10621758)
Consumption-class goods have become commoditized/cheaper whereas investment-class goods and services have become more expensive.
On the contrary, I think the thing that has deceived us about how much poorer we've become is cheap stuff. TVs are cheaper than ever. We spend less as a percentage of income on food than we've ever done in the past. Even automobiles and computers are more affordable than they've ever been. To a superficial viewpoint, we have more purchasing power than we've ever had (and the CPI includes many of these items which give that superficial viewpoint).
But we see the true regression in purchasing power once we look at things that haven't benefitted from lowered manufacturing costs. Housing, education, health care and the like are showing the true nature of the situation of how poor we've become.
P.S. Yes, I know I took the quote out of context and I'm more agreeing with you than disagreeing with you. But there is a distinction to be made that it's not all stuff that's more expensive, just the important stuff.