FT: US Housing Crisis Pushing Gen Z Towards Cryptocurrency and Economic Nihilism

According to the Financial Times, the deteriorating affordability of housing in the US is profoundly changing the financial and consumption behavior of Generation Z, even driving some young people towards speculative investment in cryptocurrencies and fostering a sense of economic nihilism. The imbalance between housing prices and income has become a core force influencing the economic behavior of young people. Faced with unattainable homeownership goals, some young people choose to 'lie flat,' reduce savings, and invest more frequently in high-risk assets such as cryptocurrencies. Surveys show that young people who consider buying a house unrealistic are more likely to exhibit three behaviors: reduced savings, decreased work motivation, and increased speculative investments. Conversely, young people who still believe they can buy a house in the future will be more actively saving and planning, as a change in belief in the goal alters the incentive mechanism. The article emphasizes that as the opportunity cost of buying a house rises, more and more young people will invest their time and money in areas with immediate higher returns, such as speculative markets. In order to reverse this trend, policies need to directly improve housing supply and prices, for example: relaxing building restrictions, increasing affordable housing construction, and optimizing land use regulations. FT believes that improving the financial literacy of young people is also crucial, including skills such as budget management, basic investment knowledge, risk assessment, and long-term savings planning, which will determine whether they can achieve their homeownership goals in the future.

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