Catch Vartan

They are looting the country on an unprecedented scale and the lesson of losses by Massie and Cassidy is that no Republican in Congress will ever lift a finger to halt this.

A lot of older people came up when the country was much poorer and a penny pinching save (X year inflation adjusted equivalent of) ten bucks here or there really added up *because they didnt have a lot of money*. Similarly food has historically been materially more expensive as a budget share so savings there went further. In 1950 food was 20% of family budgets, in 1960 17%, in 1980 13%. It bottomed out a little under 10% in the early 2000s and has crept up to a bit over 10% now on the back of increased eating out which makes sense, as the baseline becomes a smaller share of expenses there's more room to splurge a little. This is sort of unsatisfying to everyone. It denies the black pillers their affordability crisis which is pretty localized to high demand metro housing not some general all factor thing. But at the same time it denies the old their budget preening. At modern budget profiles cutting food spend wont be a major factor for most people and food is already near a historic low budget share, at least at a population level the shift towards a little more comfort and luxury spend on food is perfectly justifiable and prudent.

Kevin O’Leary says Gen Z is financially cooked when people making $70K a year are spending $28 on lunch

Kevin O’Leary says Gen Z is financially cooked when people making $70K a year are spending $28 on lunch

I forget if I've written up my college sumptuary law proposal, which is: banning schools from providing students with an on-campus standard of living higher than what the median graduate of that school can afford in their first year after finishing.

There's another aspect of this, which is, if you grow up upper-middle class, your parents' house and standard of living is going to be pretty nice. Going from living in a 2k+ sq ft house in the suburbs with a stocked fridge and maybe parents who cook and clean for you to sharing an apartment with a few roommates and having to pay for food is a rough transition. But it's also the normal life cycle. The fact that you are poorer at 22 than your parents were at 42, when you left for college, isn't proof that you've been screwed by the economy, but it often feels like it.

A huge driver of populism is the rugpull of growing up upper-middle-class, having a pretty luxurious college experience, and then having to live like the median 22-year-old college graduate.

Kevin O’Leary says Gen Z is financially cooked when people making $70K a year are spending $28 on lunch

Kevin O’Leary says Gen Z is financially cooked when people making $70K a year are spending $28 on lunch

Oh yeah, somebody spending $20.00 on food a day while making $70,000.00 a year is the reason they are poor and not the fact that the average price of a new car is $50,000.00 and the average house is going for $436,000.00.

Kevin O’Leary says Gen Z is financially cooked when people making $70K a year are spending $28 on lunch