����vlog

SOLEDAD: PRICES ARE RISING EVERYWHERE RIGHT NOW. AND IT’S HARD NOT TO WORRY WHEN WE SEE THE COSTS OF HOUSING, GAS, LUMBER, GROCERIES, AND TRANSPORTATION GOING UP AT A RATE MANY OF US HAVE NEVER EXPERIEND.CE THAT’S ESPECIALLY TRUE FOR GEN ZERS AND MILLENNIA.LS IRONICALLY, THEIR PANDICEM SPENDING IS DRIVING DEMAND FOR BIG TICKET ITEMS, PUSHING PRICES UP. LAST YEAR, THEY ACCOUNTED FOR MORE THAN HALF OF HOME MORTGAGE LOAN APPLICATIONS AND BOUGHT MORE NEW CARS THAN ANY OTHER AGE GRP.OU LINDA NAZARETH IS AN ECONOMIST AND A FUTURIST, FOCUSING ON POPULATION CHANGES. SHE IS THE HOST OF THE PODSTCA "WORK AND THE FUTURE." MILLENNIALS, H OOWLD AREHE T EXACTLY AND GEN ZERS? HOW OLD ARE THEY? LINDA: IF YOU LOOK AT MILLENNIALS, THEY WERE BORN SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE 1980S, SO THEY ARE WELL INTO, I SAY, MDLIDE E.AG IF WE LOOK AT GEN Z, THEY’RE THE GROUP THAT CAME AFTER THEM. WE’RE TALKING ABOUT TEENS, 20S, 30 SOMETHINGS, BASICALLY. SOLEDAD: WHY IS INFLATION HITTING THEM SO HARD? LINDA: WELL, FIRST OF ALL, IT’S A SURPRISE TO THEM THAT THERE IS INFLATION, BECAUSE THEY HAVEN’T REALLY GROWN UP WITH THIS. I MEAN, WE’VE HAD QUITE A WHILE WHERE PRICES HAVE BEEN PRETTY STABLE. INTEREST RATES HAVE BEEN PRETTY LOW. IT HASN’T REALLY BEEN AN ISS.UE AND NOW WE HAVE A VERY DIFFERENT SIATTUION. SO THEY’RE LEARNING WHAT THIS MEANS THAT THE PAYCHECK THAT THEY RELIED ON TO BUY CERTAIN GROCERY BASKET AND PAY FOR THIS MORTGAGE PAYMENT ISN’T GOING AS R.FA AND THAT’A SHS OCK. THEY’RE AT THE PART OF THEIR LIFE WHERE THEY’RE ACQUIRING THIN.GS SO IT IS HITTING THEM FAIRLY HARD. SOLEDAD: I MEAN, THEY’RE KIND OF PIVOTAL IN WHAT DRIVES THE ECONOMY, RIGHT? THE MILLENNIALS. LINDA: YEAH, THEY’RE CERTAINLY THE LARGEST PART OF THE LABOR FORCE, IF YOU LOOK AT NORTH AMERICA AND A LOT OF THE WLDOR RIGHT NOW, WE’RE TALKING ABOUT THE PEOPLE WHO ARE TAKING THE ENTRY LEVEL JOBS, OBPRABLY TAKING THE MANAGEMENT JOBS THAT ARE COMING OPEN AND THEY WILL BE AN INCREASINGLY LARGE PART OF THE LABOR FORCE. SO YOU KNOW YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT HOW THEY ACT IN TERMS OF BEING ECONOMIC AGENTS, IN TERMS OF THEIR ACTIONS THAT’S GOING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO EVERYTHING. SOLEDAD: WE’VE HEARD ALL ABOUT THE GREAT RESIGNATION, RIG?HT AND PEOPLE HOPPING TO NEW OPPORTUNITIES. DOES THAT MEAN TT HAWAGES ARE ALSOIS RING AS PRICES CREEP UP AS WELL? LINDA: THEY ARE RISING, BUT THERE’S A GAP BETWEEN THE TW IO, MEAN, WE’RE LOOKING PROBABLY TWO PERCENTAGE POINTS BETWN EETHE DIFFERENCE IN PRICE PRICES AND THE WAGE INCREASES, ANITD ANCHGES MONTH TO MONTH, TBU THEY’RE CERTAINLY NOT EQUAL. BUT IT WILL BE AN INTERESTING YEAR BECAUSE WE ARE SEEING INTEREST RAT GESOING HIGHER, THAT WILL SLOW THE ECONOMY SOMEWHAT. SOLEDAD: CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE MECHANISM THAT’S MAKING PRICES RI?SE LINDA: ONE THING IS THAT INTEREST RATES HAVE BEEN LOW FOR A LONG PERIOD OF TIME, AND THERE WAS A REASON FOR THAT POST 2010. AND THE ECONOMY WAS SLOWER AND THEN WE HAD THE PANDEMIC, WHHIC MEANT THAT WE REALLY HADO T RRWOY ABOUT ECONOMIC GROWTH. IT WAS LIKE THE ECONOMY SWA GRINDING TO A HALT. OF COURSE, THE FEDERAL RESERVE KEPT INTEREST RATES VERY LOW AND THAT TENDS TO GIVE RISTOE RISING PRICES. WE CAN LEAVE RATES LOW BECAUSE THERE’S ALL THIS SLACK IN THE ECONOMY BECAUSE OF THE PANDEMIC. WE HAD A LOT OF E THWORLD COMING BACK ACTUALLY PRETTY NICELY, WHICH IS THE FINE. IT BID PRICES UP FOR THINGS LIKE COMMODITIES, OIL AND THE LIKE. AND THEN YOU HAD THE SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES, NOW WE HAVE THIS EXTRA CONFLICT IN RUSSIA, UKRAINE, WHICH IS ALSO SENDING COMMODITY PRICES HIGHER, OIL PRICES HIGR.HE SO IT’S ALL REALLYIN KD OF A PERFECT STORM. SOLEDAD: HOW DOES ALL OF THIS IMPACT INCOME INEQUALITY? LINDA: IF YOU LOOK AT JOBS AND YOU LOOK AT WHO IS ABLE TO KEEP WORKING AND KEEP MAKING MORE MONEY, IT WAS VERY MUCH PEOPLE WITH MORE EDUCATION, WITH PROBABLY MORE ADVANTAGES GOING .IN PEOPLE WHO WERE LESS ADVANTAD,GE DEFINITELY LOST GROUND. NOBODY LIKES HAVING IT COST MORE TO FILL UP THEIR CAR. SOME GROUPS CAN REALLY BEAITR BETTER WITHOUT HAVING THEIR FOOD BUDGET IMPACTED AND WE’RE GOING TO SEE THE IMPACT OF THIS OVER THE NEXT YEAR OR SO. SOLEDAD: LINDA NAZARETH, NICE TO TALK TO YOU.