WTH Does Gen Z Think Life Sucks? Norbert Michel Explains.

If you were in your twenties and could choose to be born at any point in human history, would you be insane to choose any other time to be alive than right now? Our guest says yes, and the statistics back him up. Regardless of perception, shaped in part by politicians and populists, the average person today is richer than John D. Rockefeller simply by virtue of being alive in 2025. And yet, the “anxious generation” of Gen Z and Gen Alpha seem unaware of their own financial wellbeing and appear confused as to why they aren’t instantly as well off as their parents in providing for themselves. Many believe homeownership is impossible, that they will never pay off their loans, and that the cost of living is unmanageable. Is this belief based in any reality? Was life truly better for their parents? Or is this a generational cycle of perception? And who benefits from peddling this fear?

Norbert Michel is the Vice President and Director of the Cato Institute’s Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives, where he specializes on issues pertaining to financial markets and monetary policy. Michel was most recently the Director for Data Analysis at the Heritage Foundation where he edited and contributed chapters to multiple books. Michel is also the author of the book Crushing Capitalism: How the Stagnation Narrative is Threatening the American Dream and co-author of Financing Opportunity: How Financial Markets Have Fueled American Prosperity for More than Two Centuries.

Read the transcript here.

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