Tuesday, October 9, 2018

The Young and Not Restless


GI Generation: 1901 – 1926

Mature/Silents Generation: 1927 – 1945

Baby Boomer Generation: 1946 – 1964

Generation X: 1965 – 1979

Generation Y/Millennium: 1980 – 2000

Generation Z: 2001 - Present

Baby Boomers are incorrigible. At least that's one way of looking at the latest data on America divorce rates. It turns out that Millennials are approaching marriage differently -- so differently in fact that they often decide to stay married. Millennials Are Causing the U.S. Divorce Rate to Plummet (Even positive Millennial headlines are worded critically): "New data show younger couples are approaching relationships very differently from baby boomers, who married young, divorced, remarried and so on. Generation X and especially millennials are being pickier about who they marry, tying the knot at older ages when education, careers and finances are on track. The result is a U.S. divorce rate that dropped 18 percent from 2008 to 2016."

Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the generational demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. There are no precise dates for when this cohort starts or ends; demographers and researchers typically use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s as ending birth years. Millennials are sometimes referred to as "echo boomers" due to a major surge in birth rates in the 1980s and 1990s, and because millennials are often the children of the baby boomers. Although millennial characteristics vary by region, depending on social and economic conditions, the generation is generally marked by an increased use and familiarity with communications, media, and digital technologies.

Authors William Strauss and Neil Howe believe that each generation has common characteristics that give it a specific character with four basic generational archetypes, repeating in a cycle. According to their hypothesis, they predicted millennials will become more like the "civic-minded" G.I. Generation with a strong sense of community both local and global. Strauss and Howe ascribe seven basic traits to the millennial cohort: special, sheltered, confident, team-oriented, conventional, pressured, and achieving.

Strauss and Howe's research has been influential, but it also has critics. Psychologist Jean Twenge says Strauss and Howe's assertions are overly-deterministic, non-falsifiable, and unsupported by rigorous evidence. Twenge, the author of the 2006 book Generation Me, considers millennials, along with younger members of Generation X, to be part of what she calls "Generation Me". Twenge attributes millennials with the traits of confidence and tolerance, but also describes a sense of entitlement and narcissism, based on personality surveys showing increased narcissism among millennials compared to preceding generations when they were teens and in their twenties. She questions the predictions of Strauss and Howe that this generation will turn out civic-minded. A 2016 study by SYZYGY a digital service agency, found millennials in the U.S. continue to exhibit elevated scores on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory as they age, finding millennials exhibited 16% more narcissism than older adults, with males scoring higher on average than females. The study examined two types of narcissism: grandiose narcissism, described as "the narcissism of extraverts, characterized by attention-seeking behavior, power and dominance", and vulnerable narcissism, described as "the narcissism of introverts, characterized by an acute sense of self-entitlement and defensiveness.

Baby Boomers resonate primarily with loyalty, work ethic, steady career path, and compensation when it comes to their professional lives. Generation X on the other hand, started shifting preferences towards an improved work-life balance with a heightened focus on individual advancement, stability, and job satisfaction. Meanwhile, millennials place an emphasis on producing meaningful work, finding a creative outlet, and have a preference for immediate feedback. In the article "Challenges of the Work of the Future," it is also stressed that millennials working at the knowledge-based jobs very often assume personal responsibility in order to make the most of what they do. As they are not satisfied with remaining for a long period of time at the same job, their career paths become more dynamic and less predictable. Findings also suggest the introduction of social media has augmented collaborative skills and created a preference for a team-oriented environment.

Generation Z (our current traditional college age students) is composed of those born between 2000 and today, which means that the oldest are about 18 and are just entering the workforce. The media has focused a lot on millennials in recent years, but it's time to turn some of the attention to the millennials' future co-workers.

Gen Z Is Motivated by Security

Gen Z May Be More Competitive

Gen Z Wants Independence

Gen Z Will Multitask (More Than Millennials)

Gen Z Is More Entrepreneurial

Gen Z Wants to Communicate Face to Face

Gen Z Are True Digital Natives

Gen Z Wants To Be Catered To

What does all this mean? Who knows, I am glad I teach them not work for them.

COLLEGE CHRONICLES – Harvard University (ever heard of it?) returned 10% on its endowment in fiscal 2018. It's now up to $39.2 billion...and yep, it's still the world's largest.

But we should note the endowment didn't perform as well as a few of its peers.

For the year ending June 30...

Dartmouth College: 12.2% gain
University of Pennsylvania: 12.9% gain
MIT: 13.5% gain
Notre Dame: 12.2% gain

Bottom line, courtesy of The Harvard Crimson: The returns "mark an improvement from last year's return of 8.1 percent and a serious turn-around from the loss of $2 billion in fiscal year 2016."

BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK – Birthday wishes and thoughts this week Jackson Browne (70) Malibu, CA; Karla Hasse ….famous sister; Karen Hasse ….famous sister; Devorah Lieberman ….famous graduate of Covina High School; David Lee Roth (64) Scottsdale, AZ; Tanya Tucker (60) Dallas, TX.

HEAT WATCH - The world has just over a decade to get climate change under control, U.N. scientists say: "The world stands on the brink of failure when it comes to holding global warming to moderate levels, and nations will need to take 'unprecedented' actions to cut their carbon emissions over the next decade, according to a landmark report by the top scientific body studying climate change. ... To avoid racing past warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) over preindustrial levels would require a 'rapid and far-reaching' transformation of human civilization at a magnitude that has never happened before, the group found."

MARKET WEEK – U.S. markets: Yesterday's magic number? Three. The Dow rose for the first time in three sessions. The S&P, though, dipped into the red to mark day three of its losing streak. FYI, stocks were thinly traded (and the bond market was closed altogether) thanks to Columbus Day.

Global economy: In a highly anticipated report, the IMF cut its global growth forecast, giving a nod to trade tensions.

For the month of September, the U.S. economy added 134,000 jobs—well below economist estimates of 185,000 and the smallest monthly gain in a year.

Still...we're now at eight straight years of job gains, plus September's unemployment rate fell to 3.7%. The last time unemployment was that low? December 1969.

Which got me thinking...what else was going on back in ‘69?

More than 400,000 people attended the Woodstock Music and Art Fair.
Boeing's iconic 747 took off on its first ever flight.
The Dow finished the year around 800 points (it's currently at 26,447).
General Motors topped the Fortune 500.
Walmart officially incorporated as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the Moon.

The Week Ahead -

We hope you got some rest over the weekend. Earnings season is back.

Tuesday: Leif Erikson Day; Google is announcing new products; the IMF will release its annual global growth outlook.

Wednesday: World Mental Health Day (Fellow Faculty take note).

Thursday: CPI; jobless claims; G20 finance ministers meet in Bali; earnings (Walgreens, Delta Air Lines).

Friday: Annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank; earnings (Citigroup, JPMorgan, PNC, Wells Fargo.

OUT AND ABOUT – The boys from the Class of ’76 attended Homecoming weekend, taking in St. Lawrence Football winning the Hoffman Cup over Norwich University 40-7. (Left to right)Al Karnas, Peter Hewitt, Rick Klingman, and Marc Young pay tribute to classmate Ron Pelligra at “Luca Rock”.  This was followed by a spiritual event at Camp Karnas in Honeoye Falls, New York. Thank you to Huey, who is getting ready for son Joey Hewitt’s senior year at D-III basketball power Whitman College Blues upcoming season.

SWAMI’S WEEK TOP PICKS

NFL Football Pick of the Week – Thursday 10/11 8:20 PM ET, Fox: Philadelphia Eagles (2-3) visit the Meadowlands and the New York Football Giants (1-4). Giants lose this one it is time to start the buses, they do Eagles 24- 21.  (Season to date 2-3)

College Football Pick of the Week – Saturday 10/13, 3:30 PM ET, ESPN: #2 Georgia Bulldogs (6-0) at #13 LSU Tigers (5-1). LSU Tigers in an upset 40 – 35.  (Season to date 3-2)

D-III Football Pick of the Week – Saturday 10/13, 3:00 PM ET, HGTV: #3 St. Thomas (5-0) vs; #9 St. John’s (5-0). The Tommies face The Johnnies in a key MIAC match-up. The Johnnies in an upset 32 – 22.    (Season to date 4-2)

SCIAC Game of the Week (women’s volleyball) – Saturday 10/13, 4:00 PM PT: University of La Verne Leopards (13-7, 5-3) visit #9 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Republicans (16-2, 7-0). Here we go the rivalry continues in Hedge Fund Arena, Republicans are too strong in Hedge Fund Land, 3 – 1.  (Season to date 3-3)

NHL Game of the Week – Saturday 10/13; Toronto Maple Leafs (2-1) at Washington Capitals (1-0-1), Leafs are for real and so are the Capitals, end of a tough travel week for the Leafs, Caps win 5 – 2.

Season to Date (45 - 31)

Next Blog:  October 15 – Jack Ass of the Month and fall recipes.

Until next time, Adios

Claremont, California

October 9, 2018
#IX-12-380

CARTOON OF THE WEEK – The New Yorker


RINK RATS POLL –

Favorite Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip?

_____ Mirage
_____ Wynn
_____ MGM Grand
_____ Bellagio
_____ Caesars
_____ Other

QUOTE OF THE MONTH“A little bit of this town (Las Vegas) goes a very long way.” – Hunter S. Thompson

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