NEWSWIRE: 10/30/17
- A new piece explores the rise of addictions and overdoses attributable to fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid. The nation’s opioid crisis is still escalating, especially in regions like the Northeast where the evolution of powerful drug strands is ravaging families and communities. (The Washington Post)
- NH: The big news, according to preliminary data released two months ago by the CDC, is that drug overdose deaths will continue to rise in 2016 over 2015, from 52,000 to around 64,000. (Final data will be available in December.) The biggest single driver of this rise is the continued rise in illegal opioid deaths, especially an explosion in fentanyl deaths--from less than 3,000 in 2013 to over 20,000 last year. With medical protocols becoming more restrictive (see: "A Nation Hooked"), deaths from prescription opiods are actually declining. Why is fentanyl so deadly? It can be synthesized at room temperature (typically in China). It is so potent--25 to 50 times more potent than heroin--that it is easy to smuggle (typically through Mexico) into the United States. Its high potency means users can easily overdose. And its rapid metabolism in the body makes it incredibly addictive. To quote the WP: "To some addicts, a near-death experience is not an error. It’s the dream."
- More than one in ten 18- to 24-year-olds in the U.K. have fallen victim to a phishing scam, compared to just one in twenty individuals age 55 and older. For family-oriented Millennials, a scammer who purports to be a loved one in need of money is often impossible to resist. (Get Safe Online)
- NH: We've run several pieces on how scammers have better success preying on Millennials than on the more hardscrabble Xers. (See, for example, "Fraudulent Job Recruiters Target Millennials" and "Millennials More Likely to Fall For Phone Scams.") This ploy is especially effective, since it targets Millennials through their trusted social-media contacts.
- Boomers worry that they won’t be able to sell their big suburban homes when the time comes. Their concerns are warranted: While Boomers bought McMansions to house all their belongings, Millennials are renting and looking for smaller homes (including tiny houses) that are more in tune with their budget. (CNBC)
- Thanks to a partnership between Airbnb and Newgard Development Group, Florida will soon be home to an Airbnb-branded apartment building. The establishment, which will enable residents to rent out their units for up to 180 days per year, is Airbnb’s latest attempt to legitimize itself in the eyes of real estate developers and regulators. (Bloomberg Business)
- NH: For Airbnb, the upside of forming partnerships with landlords is that it legitimizes the brand and gets these powerful owners to help, not block, Airbnb's growth in local jurisdictions. The downside is that it makes Airbnb seem more like a hotel franchiser (whose customer is the renter) and thus subject to hotel regulations. Uber, possibly in preparation for an IPO, is taking the opposite tack: It is insisting to the SEC that the drivers, not the riders, are their only customers. The downside here is implausibility. We'll see which approach works best.
- Boomer executive Steve Stratton says that his Xer colleagues are transforming the workplace. He correctly notes that pragmatic Xers are focused solely on the bottom line: “While my generation was lured by visions of corner offices and personal parking spots, Xers are more motivated by locations that will allow them to work in more productive ways.” (JLL)
- NH: Among other changes, new Boomer CEOs back in the 1990s tended to move corporate HQs out to the suburbs (and out of urban areas that were often afflicted by skyrocketing crime rates). Over the last decade, Xer CEOs have been moving them back into core urban areas--which are now much safer and hugely more effective for attracting young (Millennial) talent. Gen-X CEOs moved GE to Boston; Quicken Loans to downtown Detroit; Under Armour to downtown Baltimore; and ConAgra, Kraft-Heinz, Motorola, and McDonald's all to downtown Chicago.
- Fully 60% of 18- to 36-year-olds have cut back on spending to save more money. In the wake of a childhood scarred by the Great Recession, Millennials have turned saving money into a way of life. (Bankrate.com)
- NH: The declining trend in the overall U.S. personal savings rate since the GFC (now down to around 3.5%) has been driven mainly by market-driven improvements in household balance sheets--which accrue mostly to older households. The rising savings propensity of Millennials is--thus far--a contrary trend, overwhelmed by the higher propensity to consume of older generations.
- NFL quarterback Drew Brees has a new side gig: founder and coach of a Louisiana flag football league. Though Brees himself earns millions from tackle football, the quarterback (whose own children play flag) shares the concerns of parents everywhere: “I feel like football is at risk if parents feel the only option for their kids is tackle.” (The Wall Street Journal)
- NH: With four children under age 10, this veteran Gen-X QB gets it: Protective parents are starting to turn their kids away from tackle football. Unless the NFL sees its long-term future as a gladitorial sport (something everyone watches but hardly anyone plays), Commissioner Roger Goodell and company had better start looking outside the box at alternative rules--e.g., what about making contact sports like football and hockey safer by actually getting players to remove helmets and other protective gear?
- Only 11% of renters between the ages of 25 and 34 say that they wouldn’t live in a complex that allowed short-term rentals—compared to 32% of renters age 65 and older. For developers and landlords, the implications are clear: “[Millennials are] clearly going to cycle through and [Boomers] are going to cycle out.” (National Multifamily Housing Council/Kingsley Associates)
- Budweiser will soon launch its 1933 Repeal Reserve, a limited-edition amber lager derived from a Prohibition-era recipe. Parent company AB InBev clearly hopes that a new craft brew that hinges on heritage marketing will jumpstart its lagging sales. (MediaPost)
- NH: Getting Millennials to chug more Big Beer is a tough challenge. The appeal to "heritage" is a good touch that often works with this generation. But the transgressive "Prohibition" password angle (as in psssst: It's against the law!)? Awkward. Must have been thought up by a Gen Xer still in love with The Great Gatsby.
- Nearly two-thirds of Millennials say they would be willing to own a self-driving vehicle within the next decade. While Millennials’ optimism is promising for companies investing in self-driving technology, autonomous vehicles are miles away from hitting the consumer market. (Edmunds)
- NH: According to this survey, there's a significant break around age 45 (roughly halfway through Generation X) in the willingness to embrace driverless riding. This is the same big cohort break that we see in attachment to car culture generally.
DID YOU KNOW?
Polarization Soars in Trump's America. Five years ago, we pointed out that political polarization in the United States was on the rise. (See: “The Divided States of America.”) New data from Pew Research Center show that, in the years since, the problem has gotten much worse. U.S. political polarization has hit a new high-water mark during Donald Trump’s first term. Regarding immigration, for instance, 84 percent of Democrats and left-leaners now agree that immigrants “strengthen the country with their hard work and talents,” compared to just 42 percent of Republicans and right-leaners. (In 1994, the margin was a mere 2 percentage points, with 32 percent of Democrats and 30 percent of Republicans agreeing.) These differences persist across virtually every core political value, from desired role of government to stances on international relations. Moreover, the divergence by party dwarfs the divergence by every other demographic category, from race to education level to age. The average partisan divide across 10 core political values now measures a staggering 36 percentage points, an all-time high.
