3 ms·

Stage 1 (October 2016): Australian Demographer Bernard Salt lamented young people spending $22 on 'smashed avocado with crumbled feta on five-grain toasted brea

Stage 1 (October 2016): Australian Demographer Bernard Salt lamented young people spending $22 on 'smashed avocado with crumbled feta on five-grain toasted bread'[1]. Australians have a conniption fit. Stage 2 (May 2017): With the avocado/housing nexus now established as a local meme, general waste of space Tim Gurner uses it to attack people who think he own so many houses [2]. Americans sit up and take notice. Stage 3 (July 2017): Long-form articles commissioned during Stage 2 begin to arrive, having made their circuitous way through the publishing industry too slow to have any relevance whatsoever. [1] http://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/weekend-australian-magazine/moralisers-we-need-you/news-story/6bdb24f77572be68330bd306c14ee8a3 http://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/weekend-australian-maga... [2] http://www.9news.com.au/national/2017/05/15/08/39/melbourne-property-tycoon-hammers-millennials-over-spending-habits http://www.9news.com.au/national/2017/05/15/08/39/melbourne-...

woodpanel 9y ago
Thank you for this summary of how this story evolved. Millennials indeed pay premium prices for staples (nespresso coffee costs around 6 times as much as normal homebrewed coffee) whilst being unable to buy a house. Which begs the question: Is this an hen/egg-problem? You could say that spendthrifts are only getting what they deserve. But... What if the only reason millennials are pouring so much of their income into consumables (incl. rent) is the unrealistic outlook of ever paying off a mortgage (let alone student debt)? Maybe this bleak outlook for owning property is caused by macro-economic effects (era of zero interest), or just that most millennials despise suburbia and flocking to more Manhattanese-areas (thus inflating already high real estate prices). Or maybe it's just that the product 'mortgage' has lost its appeal in general (who want's to lock himself up for 30+ yrs, practicing the opposite of diversification). In any of those cases it would mean, you would free up a large share of your income for consumption.
- madeofpalk 9y ago
  I've casually observed a number of studies that find that Millennials actually spend less on these sorts of items compared to generations prior.
  - cafard 9y ago
    Could well be the case. I remember when the media suddenly discovered yuppies ca. 1981, and the Washington City Paper ran an article about the "cookie people", people who would line up to buy expensive chocolate chip cookies at trendy stores.

woodpanel 9y ago

Thank you for this summary of how this story evolved. Millennials indeed pay premium prices for staples (nespresso coffee costs around 6 times as much as normal homebrewed coffee) whilst being unable to buy a house. Which begs the question: Is this an hen/egg-problem? You could say that spendthrifts are only getting what they deserve. But... What if the only reason millennials are pouring so much of their income into consumables (incl. rent) is the unrealistic outlook of ever paying off a mortgage (let alone student debt)? Maybe this bleak outlook for owning property is caused by macro-economic effects (era of zero interest), or just that most millennials despise suburbia and flocking to more Manhattanese-areas (thus inflating already high real estate prices). Or maybe it's just that the product 'mortgage' has lost its appeal in general (who want's to lock himself up for 30+ yrs, practicing the opposite of diversification). In any of those cases it would mean, you would free up a large share of your income for consumption.

madeofpalk 9y ago
I've casually observed a number of studies that find that Millennials actually spend less on these sorts of items compared to generations prior.
- cafard 9y ago
  Could well be the case. I remember when the media suddenly discovered yuppies ca. 1981, and the Washington City Paper ran an article about the "cookie people", people who would line up to buy expensive chocolate chip cookies at trendy stores.