Why doesn't it feel like the mid to late 1990s? (Economy)

[Thank you for being a friend...]

Because the economy's not that great for everyone (shh its a secret, don't tell media)

[Progressive Pessimist]

The collapse of the Pog industry.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

We're not in a fossil fuel economy anymore, technology has replaced the old jobs and most of those jobs were minimum skilled jobs anyways.

[Sherrod Brown Shill]

Because all this growth is not transferring to the same level of wage growth and middle class prosperity, income inequality is growing, automation is getting more common, and our politicians are even more beholden to deep pocketed donors who don't face much adversity from the aforementioned issues.

[Karpatsky]

Because most of the wealth is not going to the common man.

[Starry Eyed Jagaloon]

It does, except with an awful political climate.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

I think the financial prospects are a lot worse for young people. We were told we had to get a post-secondary education to get a decent job, which was true, but many of us grew up with poor guidance around our post-secondary choices because our parents didn’t really have the post-secondary experience themselves.

Meanwhile, it seems everyone is accumulating huge personal debt. Many college students and graduates are saddled with ridiculous student loans that they never really understood but figured were necessary. Meanwhile, established adults seem to be buying so much on credit that they have little hope of paying off, too.

Housing is unaffordable, the rich are getting richer, job opportunities are not great, and young people just starting off feel like their opportunities are just so limited compared to their parents. Trying to make ends meet is even harder for young people living in big cities. And it’s easy to fault them for choosing to live there, but these places are also, somewhat paradoxically, places where there is at least work that’s related to people’s schooling. They are more accepting places for minorities, LGBT people, etc. And here, home ownership seems impossible.

So no. I don’t think it’s like the 90s. The average person can’t just stumble into success in 2018 the same way the average person could 25 years ago.

[justfollowingtheelections]

I think the financial prospects are a lot worse for young people. We were told we had to get a post-secondary education to get a decent job, which was true, but many of us grew up with poor guidance around our post-secondary choices because our parents didn’t really have the post-secondary experience themselves.

Meanwhile, it seems everyone is accumulating huge personal debt. Many college students and graduates are saddled with ridiculous student loans that they never really understood but figured were necessary. Meanwhile, established adults seem to be buying so much on credit that they have little hope of paying off, too.

Housing is unaffordable, the rich are getting richer, job opportunities are not great, and young people just starting off feel like their opportunities are just so limited compared to their parents. Trying to make ends meet is even harder for young people living in big cities. And it’s easy to fault them for choosing to live there, but these places are also, somewhat paradoxically, places where there is at least work that’s related to people’s schooling. They are more accepting places for minorities, LGBT people, etc. And here, home ownership seems impossible.

So no. I don’t think it’s like the 90s. The average person can’t just stumble into success in 2018 the same way the average person could 25 years ago.

So true.