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Bullshit. I dont for a minute believe this prosperity gospel from the financial sector. here are a few sobering facts not mentioned in the article: >...what h

Bullshit. I dont for a minute believe this prosperity gospel from the financial sector. here are a few sobering facts not mentioned in the article: >...what happens to that money once there’s widespread vaccination and the vacations, weddings, and mall trips that have been delayed are suddenly unshackled. It goes to paying down rent thats been placed on credit cards and payment plans. the article doesnt mention the fact that in most major cities in America, Americans arent being evicted. Once things go back to normal, the landlord gets their cut, and the average american household goes back to being...average. Banks have also allowed customers to stretch their credit until the pandemic ends, in some cases belaying interest by months. These pipers will be paid first, not to mention the student loan collection thaw. Its also worth noting that tens of thousands of pubs, clubs, bars and restaurants effectively no longer exist. They have been entirely foreclosed due to rampant mismanagement of government lending programs and the mass exodus of service workers from major cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York. >Student debt is still rising, though at the slowest rate in over a decade. Zoomers saw what happened to Millennials during the 2008 collapse. Even if they can afford college, few are excited to repeat the prospects of their predecessors given eerily similar "once in a lifetime" financial events. >Rising home prices have priced young buyers out because they require a growing and often insurmountable downpayment. The articles bold prediction of a roaring twenties full of homeless zoomers and opulent boomers is...frankly disgusting. Its the same garbage we've endured for the past ten years after the collapse of 08, so the author just flogs the sex appeal of untenably large mortgages which (surprise) landed us in the 2008 housing collapse.

deleted 6y ago
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PeterisP 6y ago
"That money" is the money right now in savings accounts - it does not belong to the people who would use for "paying down rent thats been placed on credit cards and payment plan", it belongs to the part of population whose income was not harmed by the epidemic, but whose expenses were limited - or, as the article argues, postponed. As the article states, there are two worlds, and they don't really overlap. The amount of total household savings has greatly increased at the same time as most households are running out of savings; and it's not about the 0.1% magnates - as the 2/3 poorer households are becoming poorer, the 1/3 wealthier households are becoming even more wealthier. As the numbers show, one world has an unprecedented amount of available money, and they are going to spend it, kickstarting the economy - all while while the "other world" is experiencing all the things you describe. But since the gap between them is so large, it's counterproductive to talk about "the average american household" as in this bimodal distribution talking about the average is just as meaningful as saying that the average american has one testicle and one breast.
redis_mlc 6y ago
> Its also worth noting that tens of thousands of pubs, clubs, bars and restaurants effectively no longer exist. Probably millions of small businesses are gone in the US alone, not thousands. Most HNers are wage slaves and don't understand microeconomics, but for self-financed small businesses, their stake (capital) is gone. You're looking at forced retirement for most of those former business owners.

deleted 6y ago

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PeterisP 6y ago

"That money" is the money right now in savings accounts - it does not belong to the people who would use for "paying down rent thats been placed on credit cards and payment plan", it belongs to the part of population whose income was not harmed by the epidemic, but whose expenses were limited - or, as the article argues, postponed. As the article states, there are two worlds, and they don't really overlap. The amount of total household savings has greatly increased at the same time as most households are running out of savings; and it's not about the 0.1% magnates - as the 2/3 poorer households are becoming poorer, the 1/3 wealthier households are becoming even more wealthier. As the numbers show, one world has an unprecedented amount of available money, and they are going to spend it, kickstarting the economy - all while while the "other world" is experiencing all the things you describe. But since the gap between them is so large, it's counterproductive to talk about "the average american household" as in this bimodal distribution talking about the average is just as meaningful as saying that the average american has one testicle and one breast.

redis_mlc 6y ago

> Its also worth noting that tens of thousands of pubs, clubs, bars and restaurants effectively no longer exist. Probably millions of small businesses are gone in the US alone, not thousands. Most HNers are wage slaves and don't understand microeconomics, but for self-financed small businesses, their stake (capital) is gone. You're looking at forced retirement for most of those former business owners.