alt Hacker NewsThe story here isn't college grads as much as young people in general. We are eating our young.
We stopped building new housing, which turns housing into a transfer of wealth from those who don't have it (the young) to those who have been holding it (the not young).
We have eliminated entry level positions, saddled college graduates with massive amounts of debt by defunding universities, and created great security for older people by taking away opportunity for younger people.
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Everywhere I look in my area we are building new housing. But more people keep moving to the desirable locations with jobs etc.
EDIT: I live in one of the 10 fastest growing metro areas of the US. In the last 4 years my county added over 60,000 homes but about 130,000 new people moved here. I drive around and see new development after new development. But more people move here because of the good jobs, schools, etc.
I can drive 2 hours away to some economically depressed areas. Houses are a lot cheaper because the population moves away to the bigger cities for jobs, education, etc. So sure you can have a cheap house in an undesirable location.
We build new housing, but it just isn’t keeping up with demand in those few hot cities where young people want to live. Yes, Toledo and Buffalo (in the USA) have cheap housing to get, but those aren’t where people want to live.
We've spend the last fifty years shipping every job and industry overseas. What did we expect to happen?
Couldn't agree more. Completely aligned. Quote I refer to for this:
"We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children."
Perhaps they should vote, unfortunately they don't. They are unreliable as a base so politicians ignore them and their needs.
College graduates have been saddled with debt for a few decades now. Universities know that most of the student base gets a federal loan and once the money changes hands, don't care if it can ever get paid back.
This has led to administration bloat and majors that are completely useless when you graduate. Federal loans should be eliminated and universities should back the loans themselves.
It's not just our young—that just receives disproportionate attention. The entire country is being actively looted under the guise of "economic growth".
Anyway, increasing supply isn't going to solve our many problems leading to widespread homelessness and financial insecurity, but the Ezra Klein dunces aren't ready for that conversation yet.