patrick.net

Waitingtobuy says

Generation X is used to being fucked over. It lost its meager savings in the dot-com bust. Then came George Bush, and 9/11, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Generation X bore the brunt of all that.

and then...

Waitingtobuy says

And then came the housing crisis.

No... No... NO! before that? You left out Obama getting elected, then asking everyone to sit down on their ass and take it up the can.

Waitingtobuy says

Generation X also graduated during a recession.

The word recession means nothing important. The 1990s was an economically great time. Since Bush II took office, the economy has been in the crapper.

I wish the economy was like it was in the 1990s.

The Millennials have plenty to bitch about, but they should direct that anger at their Boomer parents who caused all the problems we're facing today.

Yeah, Gen X got screwed at every moment of their lives, but the Millennials are getting screwed worse, and I suspect the next generation even more so.

It used to be that every generation did a little better than the previous ones, but the Boomers pulled the ladder up after them and things have gotten progressively worse for everyone but the top 1% as a result. This trend started with Reaganomics, deregulation, and the eroding of worker power.

Dan8267 says

Yeah, Gen X got screwed at every moment of their lives, but the Millennials are getting screwed worse, and I suspect the next generation even more so.

Gen X got screwed, Millennials are getting raw dogged.

As a generation X guy, as I remember it

Tuition at my alma mater was 50% lower in inflation adjusted terms than it is today.

Almost any college degree was a ticket to a good paying job.

Private (or shared with one co-worker) offices were not uncommon.

After we graduated from school and worked a few years we got affordable (in terms of payment - interest was 8-10%, although I had a 20% debt to income ratio) mortgages.

Our emergency savings yielded 5% interest rates instead of some pittance which is negative in real terms.

The internet didn't have many pictures on it, although Eternal September had yet to happen so that's a wash.

Dan8267 says

The 1990s was an economically great time. Since Bush II took office, the economy has been in the crapper.

Not exactly. I remember 1993 and 1994 well. About 50% of my MBA class (Top 25 school) took about 5-6 months to find work. It wasn't as rosy as described.

Waitingtobuy says

Dan8267 says

The 1990s was an economically great time. Since Bush II took office, the economy has been in the crapper.

Not exactly. I remember 1993 and 1994 well. About 50% of my MBA class (Top 25 school) took about 5-6 months to find work. It wasn't as rosy as described.

Admittedly a marginal business school(cal poly pomona) but I do know that most of the people who graduated when I did(mid 90's) either stayed in their job at Home Depot or worked for Enterprise which is basically the shittiest professional level job one can get with a BS in Business Administration. It took me about 4 months to find a decent job. Most people I graduated with made hay later in the 90's and then during the boom in the economy in Orange County starting around 1999(eventually something sick like 2.5% unemployment.)

I was bright enough to start taking civil service tests in the late 90's due to the urging of a friend and haven't looked back. Most of my Gen X brethren have not fared so well.

dodgerfanjohn says

Not exactly. I remember 1993 and 1994 well. About 50% of my MBA class (Top 25 school) took about 5-6 months to find work. It wasn't as rosy as described.

Ya late 90s were much better. People in engineering I graduated with making at least as much money as now fresh out of college (a top school), plus signing bonuses. I also remember my first year bonus (~15% of salary) and 10% raise (1999). But that didn't last long as we all know...I think it was a narrow window in the late 90s.

However, aren't some industries doing this now? Finance and oil, to name two. I guess today we just have a narrower cross section of exploding industries. In late 90s, everyone was making it.