(Filed from the road.)
Millennials (AKA Gen Y) are those born roughly between 1980-1996. They have been defining marketing trends since they came of age.
Now, they are posted to inherit more wealth ($68 trillion) from their baby boomer parents than any generation in history.
And they are digital natives.
They've grown up in a world dominated by the technology companies I call "America's Royalty." Virtually every one of them carries a mobile device in their pocket or purse that is capable of housing all of the world's known information over the entire sweep of time, i.e., the millennia.
So it makes sense that one of the otherwise obscure stories that caught my eye this week is how millennials have embraced digital banking over the traditional brick and mortar banks we grew up with.
When it comes to transferring money, cashing or depositing checks, paying bills or making investments, they are rapidly transitioning to green, paperless systems that will soon render the old savings and loan of "It's a Wonderful Life" lore to the history books.
That chapter will henceforth have to be titled "It *Was* a Wonderful Life."
I'm still getting used to the fact that the days when I took my teenagers to our local bank branch to open their first checking account are a relic of history they won't repeat with their kids. When we made those trips, the "bankers" would shake my kid's hand and say something like, "You're a real adult now."
They wore a certain self-satisfied smile when they said that, like they knew something the kid didn't. I'm pretty sure it's called "debt."
As a kid I learned about banking in an odd way. As something of a purported math whiz, I was studied by the local bank when it was first introducing computers into its arsenal, in the early 60s. It was only a matter of time before ATMs would be replacing tellers and, well, the rest is history.
After studying my pattern-recognition skills for a spell, the local banker guy told my father that unfortunately, I was not "banker material, psychologically."
Alas, perhaps that is why my personal millennials will not be inheriting very much of that $68 trillion wealth -- what has been dubbed as the "Greatest Transfer of Wealth of All Time."
I spent all of my reporting career "following the money" instead of accumulating it.
Sorry, kids.
***
The news:
* Earth currently traps an ‘unprecedented’ amount of heat, NASA says (WP)
* Climate Change Batters the West Before Summer Even Begins -- Global warming has been fueling disasters in the region for years. Now, an early heat wave and severe drought are threatening lives and leaving water in perilously short supply. (NYT)
* What’s Going On With Illegal Fireworks in California? (California Today)
* U.S. Supreme Court rejects Republican challenge to Obamacare law (Reuters)
* Bipartisan infrastructure pitch gains steam in Senate (WP)
* U.S. Economy Drives Global Inflation -- The world’s central banks are hanging on how the Fed will respond to a rise in inflation, wary of being caught in the crosscurrents of an extraordinary U.S. economic expansion. (WSJ)
* Hong Kong police used a sweeping national security law Thursday to arrest five editors and executives of a pro-democracy newspaper on charges of colluding with foreign powers — the first time the legislation has been used against the press in yet another sign of an intensifying crackdown by Chinese authorities in the city long known for its freedoms. (AP)
* Israelis Wonder When or Whether Netanyahu Will Exit Official Residence -- Even after the new government took over on Sunday, the outgoing prime minister vowed to be back in office soon and hosted at least one former dignitary as if he were still running the show. (NYT)
* In poorest countries, surges worsen shortages of vaccines (AP)
* Delta variant fuelled 50% rise in England infections: study (Reuters)
* Nepal desperately needs vaccines (AP)
* Texas Governor Signs Bill To Allow Permit-Free Gun Carrying -- People age 21 and up will no longer have to obtain a license, complete training or undergo a background check to carry a handgun in public. (HuffPost)
* Next week, British computer scientist Sir Tim Berners-Lee, dubbed the "Father of the Web" will auction the original source code for the World Wide Web as an NFT. The work includes the original archive of dated and time-stamped files from 1990 and 1991, containing 9,555 lines of source code and original HTML documents that taught the earliest web users how to use the application. The auction item also includes an animated 30-minute video of the code being written and a digital signature from Berners-Lee himself, as well as a letter written by him over 30 years later in which he reflects on the process of creating the code and the impact it has made. (NPR)
* Tech Industry’s Glory Days in Washington Are Over-- Lobbyists representing large tech companies such as Facebook are facing a tough crowd in Congress and the White House. (WSJ)
* More than half of millennials are happy to switch to or already have a digital-only bank, reveals a new poll from one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory and fintech organizations. (deVere Group)
* Republicans parroted Putin’s propaganda. Now Putin parrots Republican propaganda. (WP)
* Congress Is Poised To Take Back Some Of Its War Powers From The President (NPR)
* Title IX Protections Extend to Transgender Students, Education Dept. Says (NYT)
* China launches first astronauts to its new space station, as race with U.S. heats up (WP)
* House Passes Bill to Make Juneteenth a Federal Holiday, Sending It to Biden -- The measure would designate June 19 as a federal holiday to commemorate the end of slavery. More than a dozen Republicans voted against it (NYT)
* The New Yorker Reaches Deal With Union To Avoid Strike -- The tentative agreement includes raises of 10% for most staffers. (HuffPost)
* The birthrate is falling for American women in their 20s, especially in places where the local economy is booming. (NYT)
* Long-time magazine writer Janet Malcolm has died at 86. (New Yorker)
* Old Vegetarian Rambling On About Days When Menus Only Had One Non-Meat Option (The Onion)
***
"I'm Busted"
Song by Ray Charles
Written by Harlan Howard
Cotton is down to a quarter a pound, but I'm busted
I got a cow that went dry and a hen that won't lay
A big stack of bills that gets bigger each day
The county's gonna haul my belongings away cause I'm busted
I hate to beg like a dog without his bone, but I'm busted
My brother said there ain't a thing I can do
My wife and my kids are all down with the flu
And I was just thinking about calling on you and I'm busted
The food that we canned last summer is gone and I'm busted
The fields are all bare and the cotton won't grow
Me and my family got to pack up and go
But I'll make a living, just where I don't know cause I'm busted
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