Friday, November 28, 2014

A Well-Seasoned Labor Force of Future Prosperity

The following chart shows the 12-month moving average of the employment level of those aged 55 and over divided by the employment level of those aged 16 to 19.


Click to enlarge.

It's nothing but up from here! Woohoo!

Don't let it concern you that we're at the bottom of the rising channel again. I know that only happens during recessions but I have it on good authority that the Fed has permanently put a stop to them. Woohoo!

So what does this mean? As the oldest generations continue to work, the youngest generations can enjoy all that retirement has to offer. How cool is that?

As a long-term video game and pinball addict who remembers playing many, many hours of Asteroids, Battlezone, Black Knight 2000, Missile Command, Star Castle, Phoenix, Tempest, Defender, Scramble, Burger Time, Joust, Moon Patrol, Tron, Zaxxon, Robotron 2084, Missile Command, High Speed, Star Wars, Karate Champ, Sinistar, Bonzai Run, and Mad Planets (to name but a few) while in high school and college, I'd call that a win win!

And get this, I actually had to leave the house to play! You know, as an introvert, I was forced to interact with society at some basic level. Maybe even own a car and burn some gasoline in the process! That is no longer needed in this modern and financially innovative new world though! Woohoo!

Grand Theft Auto V

Grand Theft Auto V broke industry sales records and became the fastest-selling entertainment product in history, earning US $800 million in its first day and US $1 billion in its first three days.

One Rich Mother F*cker! - Grand Theft Auto 5 (15.4 Million Views So Far)


One rich virtual reality mother f*cker of prosperity, baby. That's what I'm talking about. Everything we could ever want, and more!

Not buying my theory? Ye of little faith! Let's zoom out to see the big picture.


Click to enlarge.

Unprecedented future prosperity! The future's so bright I gotta wear VR goggles!

October 29, 2013
The Onion: 27-Year-Old Lies About Every Single Aspect Of His Life To Keep Parents From Worrying

Rather than explain that he spent the past weekend alone in his apartment sleeping until the late afternoon and then playing video games, Hewitt went on to say that he has “been seeing all the sights in Boston,” claiming that he has already visited a museum and that he went to a Bruins game the other week.

Source Data:
St. Louis Fed: Custom Chart

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yeah, this is a fascinating change. As you've stated before: us old-farts grew-up in a very lucky time. In fact, I think it might have been thee luckiest time ever in history for introverts.

I've been wondering for some time now if what we are seeing is the introverts being unable to cope with the new high-bullshit environment that has been created, and they are going-to-ground (so to speak).

Or, lots and lots of young people are working-off-the-books. Who knows. Interesting times (sadly enough).

Stagflationary Mark said...

Anonymous,

I've been wondering for some time now if what we are seeing is the introverts being unable to cope with the new high-bullshit environment that has been created, and they are going-to-ground (so to speak).

That perfectly describes my life. I lived in a small farming community but was not a farmer. Although I enjoyed learning new things in school, my summers were carefree and I wanted more of that.

It was therefore my goal from a very early age to retire early. I worked very hard and was very fortunate that I was able to do so.

As of 1999, I have definitely gone-to-ground. My company was on the front page of the Wall Street Journal for a month straight due to the biggest accounting scandal in our country's history (at the time). I had never been more depressed. It was taking a serious toll on my health. I survived round after round of layoffs, then simply quit one day. I just couldn't take it any more.

I'd rather work in a fast food restaurant than work in an office environment. I've done both in my life. I have absolutely no desire to do the latter again, and it is a very wide margin between the two.

It wasn't always like that. There was a time when I enjoyed my office job a lot. Those days are over and have been permanently tainted though. Go figure.