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NYT: What is it with 20-somethings?

MattFancy

By MattFancy
in The Tailgate

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Lombardi's_kid_brother

Lombardi's_kid_brother

Posted
Posted
Last XMas I was doing some last minute shopping with my father. On his list was a Kitchen Aid mixer and Quickbooks software for his Mac.

We went to the Apple store, he spent $299 on the software. Essentially, a long list of 1's and 0's put together in a specific order by a group of software engineers.

We then went to Williams Sonoma, he spent $299 on a hunk of metal that was mined from the earth, smelted, milled, fabricated, packaged, shipped, wholesaled, shipped again, and then put on a shelf.

Which is better for the economy?

Both actions are of equal benefit. You spent $299 in two stores that probably pay the same B&O tax rate and have similar salaries for their employees.

My guess is that the code was written in India and the mixer was made in China.

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zoony

zoony

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Both actions are of equal benefit. You spent $299 in two stores that probably pay the same B&O tax rate and have similar salaries for their employees.

My guess is that the code was written in India and the mixer was made in China.

I think we need to get away from the mindset of traditional 'tangible' manufacturing in defining the current economy, which is my point.

Think about the added value that takes place in cyberspace every day. It boils down to a collection of ideas, and nothing else. There is no plant with workers.

And maybe that's not as bad as many would have us believe. Like you :ols:

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z0eboy

z0eboy

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It won't be all bad if they bring good food with them.

There's a reason the best food cultures in the world were the most heavily invaded :D

(and probably goes a long way to explaining why we eat at Subway)

yo seriously... you sound like a agent plugged into the matrix... Zoony: I've been waiting along time mr. anderson...

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Lombardi's_kid_brother

Lombardi's_kid_brother

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I think we need to get away from the mindset of traditional 'tangible' manufacturing in defining the current economy, which is my point.

Think about the added value that takes place in cyberspace every day. It boils down to a collection of ideas, and nothing else. There is no plant with workers.

And maybe that's not as bad as many would have us believe. Like you :ols:

At some point, though, a country has to either make guns or butter, doesn't it? You can't choose between guns, butter, or value added, can you? Maybe you can.

Right now, our economic system seems to be based entirely on spending. It's turned into a perpetual motion machine.

Even if we did train every lazy kid as a mechanic or a plumber or a carpenter, we are still just a service economy, aren't we? Just with higher-paid services and fewer immigrants.

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zoony

zoony

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At some point' date=' though, a country has to either make guns or butter, doesn't it? You can't choose between guns, butter, or value added, can you? Maybe you can.

Right now, our economic system seems to be based entirely on spending. It's turned into a perpetual motion machine.

Even if we did train every lazy kid as a mechanic or a plumber or a carpenter, we are still just a service economy, aren't we? Just with higher-paid services and fewer immigrants.[/quote']

What is manufacturing? Manufacturing is truly added value- it is taking "nothing" and creating "something".

You start off with $10 in raw materials, and you fabricate a $400 item. That is how wealth is created and economies are grown.

So what's the difference, then, when a guy gets an idea to launch a website called Twitter? Or Google? Or a new iPhone App?

Is he/she still creating something out of nothing? What is the difference, economically speaking, between that and manufacturing?

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mcsluggo

mcsluggo

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I should start out by saying there is a ton of stuff about Generation Y to admire. And I mean that sincerely. Their creativity, intelligence, and open-mindedness is probably the best of any generation in this nation's history.

That said, my one real concern with Y is the unwillingness of so many of them to get their hands dirty. To WORK for it.

....

people "get their hands dirty" in different ways.

I work for a DFI (develoment finance institution) and i have to say i am AMAZED at the applications I get. I have changed positions recently, so didn't take on any interns this past year, but in years past I had to turn down loads of kids that had graduated with masters from ivys, and had worked for micro-finance institutions in the developing world for peanuts (or similar experience) ... and i was turning them down for UNPAID internships.

but all of these kids will do fine, obviously. They will excel in some career path or another, and be the next generation of leaders.

One thing that DEFINITLY has happened, is that the gulf between upper-middle and lower-middle class has widened tremendously. The country on the whole has benefitted greatly from free-er trade, but the benefits and costs have not been spread out evenly. If you have high skills in an area that the US excels at (engineering/product developmetn/research/high skilled services (law medicine etc..) you are MUCH better off in 2010 than you would've been in 1984. However if you have a skill-set that can easily be replicated in rural vietnam.... you are much worse off. Construction jobs can't be outsourced, but other similarly skilled jobs CAN, so even if you WEREN'T in the steel industry, you have more people competing for the same choice jobs (and you can add increased immigration to that pool) and driving down wages/overall compensation packages.

I think that at the top, these kids may be the most competetive/driven our country has ever seen. below that, I doubt that they are very different from other generations of the last 50 years, but their prospects are quite different... both in real terms and CERTAINLY in relative terms -- each generation until recently legitamately expected to exceed their parents with a similar skill-set, unless you are near the top of the heap, it is no longer likely true.

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zoony

zoony

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I think that at the top, these kids may be the most competetive/driven our country has ever seen. below that, I doubt that they are very different from other generations of the last 50 years, but their prospects are quite different... both in real terms and CERTAINLY in relative terms -- each generation until recently legitamately expected to exceed their parents with a similar skill-set, unless you are near the top of the heap, it is no longer likely true.

I would tend to agree with this. I don't have (or get) much experience with the Ivy League grads. But I suspect they are the same if not better than they've always been.

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Lombardi's_kid_brother

Lombardi's_kid_brother

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What is manufacturing? Manufacturing is truly added value- it is taking "nothing" and creating "something".

You start off with $10 in raw materials, and you fabricate a $400 item. That is how wealth is created and economies are grown.

So what's the difference, then, when a guy gets an idea to launch a website called Twitter? Or Google? Or a new iPhone App?

Is he/she still creating something out of nothing? What is the difference, economically speaking, between that and manufacturing?

The spin-off impact? The fact that it may fall more in line to entertainment than anything else? The number of employees hired?

There is probably an analogy here to the derivaties market - the idea that we are spinning money out of thin air - like spinning gold out of thread.

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Lombardi's_kid_brother

Lombardi's_kid_brother

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I would tend to agree with this. I don't have (or get) much experience with the Ivy League grads. But I suspect they are the same if not better than they've always been.

They are better. It's more merit driven now, less name-driven.

Having said that, it's turning us into Mexico. Granted, it's a Mexico where the upper-class is based more on merit than anything else. But it's still a restricted club with very little room in the middle.

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z0eboy

z0eboy

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Zoony, I honestly think your light bulb is dim... the business structure of yester-years is like a cave man going to mars in the 20th century... not gonna happen UNLESS evolution takes its course. I hated the old story... "I walked 50 miles when I was your age... blah blah blah"

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z0eboy

z0eboy

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all religious beliefs were predominantly made to asimulate the masses of people... in other words putting the common man on a pedistal of worship (ex. father, spirit, angel, maker, creater, divine entity etc...). Now europeans took that "business structure" to the new world and here we are today... sad and divided.

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pjfootballer

pjfootballer

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I had to move back in with my parents in 1999 for 1 year. I was 31 and it SUCKED!. Not that they were a bother, but it wasn't my place, my food, my TV, etc. I love having my own place. Oh, and I have a degee and I have not done anything remotely in my jobs that I have my degree in. I have a decent paying job that pays the bills and gives us some fun money, but sometimes you gotta do what you don't want to do in the interim.

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z0eboy

z0eboy

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What does that have to do with 20-something not wanting to move out?

Are you serious? This country is making the same mistakes as our fore father's. If people don't change the way they think it'll be the blind leading the blind... or in lames term - dumb and dumber / monkey see monkey do / can't teach a fish how to swim, your either born to do it or add to the statistics

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