A confession: Even though I'm a business journalist who works for Fortune magazine, I'm also a millennial-and I'm as skeptical about capitalism as the rest of my generation.
Why shouldn't we be? We came of age in an economic system that has repeatedly failed us: two recessions before we turned 40 (with another looming); a multi-decade housing crisis that is keeping many of us off the wealth-building "elevator" our parents enjoyed; and an increasingly undeniable environmental disaster to contend with.
No wonder my generation loves to complain online about how "late capitalism" has shaped us, from our attitude in the workplace (casual) to our family-planning decisions (delayed). Our ambivalence is so strong that we seem to be so far bucking the usual trend of getting more politically conservative as we age, according to a recent analysis of voter surveys in the U.S. and U.K. by the Financial Times' John Burn-Murdoch.
The late-capitalism meme evokes Karl Marx or Slavoj Zizek, expressing our feeling of living through the waning days of a corrupt economic era, one that's collapsing under the weight of its own contradictions and perhaps giving way to a new system. The socialist millennial icon Bernie Sanders helped popularize that idea during his star-making 2016 presidential campaign: "You don't necessarily need a choice of 23 underarm spray deodorants or of 18 different pairs of sneakers when children are hungry in this country," he thundered at one point.
But then 2022 happened, and now those prophesying the imminent demise of capitalism have some tough truths to swallow. Even in a year when inflation raged, markets quaked, and the mighty were brought low, it has become clear that this economic system is not about to crash and burn, and allow socialism to sprout from its rubble.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
THE NEW GOLD RUSH
Gold prices have soared amid global uncertainty and a central-bank-driven buying spree. But this time, the gold mining industry looks very different.
A New Season for Giving
As the PGA TOUR kicks off its 2025 season alongside its sponsors in Hawai'i, the organization is continuing to make an impact in local communities.
WELCOME TO ELONTOWN, USA
The small town of Bastrop, Texas (pop. 12,000), has become a home base for Elon Musk's business empire. What comes next is anyone's guess.
100 MOST POWERFUL PEOPLE
Our inaugural, authoritative ranking of the leaders whose innovation and impact have elevated them to the top of the business world.
ARE CEO SABBATICALS THE ULTIMATE POWER MOVE?
WHEN VENTURE capitalist Jeremy Liew and his wife were dating, they talked about how one day they would take a year to travel the world. \"That's how we'd know we'd made it,\" Liew says.
WHAT ARE THE BEST METRICS FOR MEASURING A STARTUP'S POTENTIAL?
IN HIS 2012 ESSAY \"Startup = Growth,\" Paul Graham talks about a 5% to 7% weekly growth rate as table stakes for startup success. If you're growing 10%, he says, you're doing \"exceptionally well.\"
TECH POLYMARKET'S ELECTION ACCURACY MADE SHAYNE COPLAN A STAR-BUT AN FBI RAID POINTS TO TROUBLE AHEAD
IN NOVEMBER, Shayne Coplan had a week he'll remember for the rest of his life: He got a phone call from the highest echelons at Mar-a-Lago. He went on TV for the first time. And his New York City apartment was raided by the FBI.
WHY BIG TECH IS THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY'S NEW BEST FRIEND
OVER THE PAST several years, Big Tech firms like Google and Microsoft have trumpeted ambitious plans to go carbon-neutral, or even carbon-negative, by 2030. But then the generative-AI boom came along and threw a giant wrench in their plans.
WHAT PALMER LUCKEY, THE MAN REVOLUTIONIZING WARFARE, IS AFRAID OF
PALMER LUCKEY, the founder of the $14 billion Al-powered weapons startup Anduril, has become the face of change in the defense industry.
GLOBAL BUSINESS BRACES FOR TRUMP 2.0
AROUND THE WORLD in 2024, voters chose change: in South Africa, France, Britain, and Japan. But nowhere does the anti-incumbent trend matter more than in the United States.
