There has been some smug remarks in the media, that Generation Y wouldn’t know what a recession is; They have always experienced boom times.
I hate these generalisations. How can every Generation Y, Generation X or Baby Boomer be the same? Everyone is an individual, some are lazy, some outgoing. Some are financially savy, some aren’t.
In my early thirty’s, I sit on the fence between Generation Y and Generation X. I consider myself more a generation Y than anything, likewise most of my peer group.
With all the media headlines today about the impending Recession, I had one home owner friend contact me tonight and ask :
What does a recession mean?
My immediate response was it is two or more quarters of negative economic growth.
There was a short pause from my friend, followed by the response “in simple persons terms?”
I then briefed him that consumers generally cut back on spending, the economy contracts and as retail, services and manufacturers see dwindling demand, jobs get axed.
His response was so “interest rates go down?”.
This was seen as a good thing until I cruelly said, yes, but that’s after you loose your job. I felt that he couldn’t comprehend the seriousness of the issue.
Later in the night I was talking to another mate. He said during the course of the day, his fiancée had asked the same question. With all the hype in the media of a recession and as Australia as had 16 years of continued economic growth, maybe New Limited should publish a piece on “What is a recession and what does it mean?”