Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Confirming the Obvious

Breaking news, the well off and youth feel things are getting better for them. I guess there must be some value in confirming what we already know but it should be obvious that everyone doing well will think things are pretty good and that youth, even in tough times, are going to be feeling that things are improving. For youth, even if their not doing as well as they hoped, they're still hoping to enjoy the upswing. The only time you're going to find these groups being pessimistic is when there's a massive shock, either to their portfolios as the market falls or when they're actively afraid of getting laid off. Other groups, enjoying neither the present benefits of success or long time frames to contemplate the future are unlikely to be as strongly consoled by a very shallow upward trend, the require more concrete improvements.

2 comments:

  1. Pew Research Center has data on thoughts and opinions on every generation going back to when the Boomers were in their 20's (so including some data on the Silent Generation at later life stages).
    As people progress through life, they get less optimistic, but young people today are the most optimistic generation in at least a half century.

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  2. Pew's always interesting and that's a more interesting finding, that today's youth are more optimistic than the past. If I had to guess, it's because the nature of the technological and social shifts we've been through. My generation and younger see a world moving beyond iron and oil and are waiting for everyone else to realize it and move on too. While it ain't here yet, we know it's coming and are looking forward to it.

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