I recently listened to a great interview on Bloomberg’s Odd Lots podcast about how “The Way We Talk About Millennials Is Wrong.” Malcolm Harris, author of Kids These Days: Human Capital and the Making of Millennials, makes an important point about how the identity of the millennial generation is largely created by marketing experts who use overgeneralized ideas to help companies sell stuff to them.
Most generations have been defined by what was happening politically or culturally. This generation is being defined by how they are most likely to spend money in the marketplace. It is not a very accurate way of looking at things, and probably not a very healthy mindset to be in. I look forward to reading Harris’s book
That being said, sometimes these darn millennials–myself included–make it so hard not to stereotype them. And it is just so darn fun!
Take a look at Abnormal Returns’s Chart of the Day from today:
Millennials are replacing guitar, bass, and drums with ukelele, cajon, and hang drum. They fit well in subcompact cars and on vespa scooters, and they are easy to set up by the avocado toast food truck in front of the craft beer taproom. Welcome to the future!
Econ4All 