Working in the 2020s: Lessons Learned from the 2010s
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Here's your money briefing for Friday, January 3rd. I'm J.R. Whalen at The Wall Street Journal in New York. It's the 2020s. The new year and new decade are an opportunity to set goals and revamp your personal finances. But what do we learn from the 2010s? Wall Street Journal reporter Julia Carpenter spoke with several people who started their careers in the last decade as the country was slowly recovering from the effects of the Great Recession. We'll hear from one of them in a moment. But first, some money and market news you should know. More than 60 drug makers raised prices in the U.S. on January 1st, on average by 5.8%. That's according to data collected by RX Saving Solutions.
How does the 2010s recession shape young people's financial mindset?
Pfizer led the way, hiking prices by over 9% on more than 40 products. And AbbVie raised the price of its rheumatoid arthritis treatment, Humira, that's the world's top-selling drug, by 7.5%. The increases were on the drug's list prices, which are set by manufacturers, before rebates, discounts, and insurance co-pays. Now, drug makers argue that overall, their net prices have actually declined because of large rebates to pharmacy benefit managers, which negotiate prices with employers and labor unions. U.S. CEOs say that a recession is their top concern going into 2020. In a conference board survey of corporate leaders, trade concerns and global political instability were also up on the list. Now, global CEOs said that attracting and retaining top talent was their chief concern, followed by creating new business models because of disruptive technologies.
The conference board projects that global growth will accelerate slightly this year to 2.5%.
People who grew up during the recession and began their career in the 2010s are entering the 2020s having learned valuable lessons on debt, jobs, and saving for retirement. And Wall Street Journal reporter Julia Carpenter spoke to a few of them, and she's joining us to talk about it. So, Julia, how much of a scar did the 2008 recession leave on young people?
I think something that really struck me when I was talking to people about their goals for the coming decade and their accomplishments or major shaping moments of the past decade was that financial anxiety kept coming up again and again. And I spoke with one woman who she said she's paid down almost $50,000 of debt last year. It's something that's been a huge accomplishment for her. But her goal for the 2020s is just to feel OK. She said, I just want to feel like I can handle this.
What money and market headlines frame the start of the 2020s?
If something happens to my parents, if something happens to my partner. And that's something I heard again and again is that people just want to feel secure. They just want to feel not even successful, but just not in the weeds, not climbing up out of nothing.
Just a sense of peace of mind and stability.
Yeah, totally.
Well, let's bring in someone you spoke with for your story. Let's bring in Christina Bowes. She's 26, a labor and delivery nurse from West Covina, California. Christina, you were about 16 when the financial crisis hit last decade. What do you remember about life before 2008 and life after 2008?
I was pretty fortunate that in my family... We were pretty much uncut because my dad got to keep his job before and after the financial crisis. But I do remember driving around, stores were closing. My boyfriend's family, they were worried that they would lose their house. Their parents actually declared bankruptcy in that time. But there were a lot of restaurants that were closing, stores were closing. And I would read a lot of articles in Time magazine when I used to read it. that were saying that people weren't having children as much anymore, that everyone was losing their jobs. So... I got to see it happen around me, but luckily it wasn't too personally affected.
I remember when you and I talked about your goals, you were talking about how feeling stable, feeling secure, that's like a number one goal for you.
Yes. I want to make sure that I'm never in a position where I'm really quaking in my boots, that I can't pay my bills.
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