WEBVTT - Gen Alpha Arrives With Very Grown Up Spending Power

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news.

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<v Speaker 2>You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and

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<v Speaker 2>Tim Steneveek on Bloomberg Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Stacy Vanick Smith is a columnist for Bloomberg Business Week.

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<v Speaker 1>She's the co host of the Everybody's Business podcast. She

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<v Speaker 1>writes about the very grown up spending power of Jen Alpha.

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<v Speaker 1>She joins us here in the Bloomberg Interactive Broker's Studio. So,

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<v Speaker 1>Carol mentioned the criticisms of this generation, and we'll talk

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<v Speaker 1>about this as you put out on your piece. They

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<v Speaker 1>came of age during the pandemic, there's this strange relationship

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<v Speaker 1>with technology people.

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<v Speaker 2>Right about the.

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<v Speaker 1>Criticism, but wait, okay, there's also strengths, and they have

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of strengths, so talk about those before we

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<v Speaker 1>talk about the criticism.

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<v Speaker 3>I'm well, it's interesting because I feel like the strengths

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<v Speaker 3>and the weaknesses go hand in hand a little bit.

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<v Speaker 2>So you're exactly right.

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<v Speaker 3>A lot of these kids came of age and experienced

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<v Speaker 3>big life milestones during the pandemic inside through screen. So

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<v Speaker 3>as a result of that, there are issues with socialization. Also,

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<v Speaker 3>learning was much more difficult, and we were all kind

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<v Speaker 3>of trying to find our footing. But at the same time,

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<v Speaker 3>there's a lot this generation shows itself to be very

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<v Speaker 3>good at teamwork, also very entrepreneurial because a lot of

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<v Speaker 3>games like Minecraft and Roadblocks, like they have worlds inside

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<v Speaker 3>of worlds where businesses can be built and things like that,

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<v Speaker 3>And because social media can give people such a huge

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<v Speaker 3>platform so fast. A lot of these very young I

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<v Speaker 3>mean I almost even hesitate to call them kids, but

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<v Speaker 3>a lot of these kids have huge audiences. They can

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<v Speaker 3>develop products and and put them out on a world stage.

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<v Speaker 3>I mean, it's just really impressive.

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<v Speaker 1>It's impressing, but it's all it's impressive, impressing. It's also

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<v Speaker 1>daunting to me.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, why, well.

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<v Speaker 1>It's daunting to me for a few reasons. I don't

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<v Speaker 1>love the idea that in order to be successful we

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<v Speaker 1>have to have these big online presences. Yeah, and I

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<v Speaker 1>see this and like, you know, my social media feed,

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<v Speaker 1>which of course I try to keep it away from

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<v Speaker 1>my kids, but like my social media feed, like there

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<v Speaker 1>are kids whose parents are clearly enabling them to become

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<v Speaker 1>creators and like want to be influencers and stuff, And

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<v Speaker 1>I just wonder, like, what are we doing to them

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<v Speaker 1>in that process.

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<v Speaker 3>I mean, I think it's it's a double edged sword

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<v Speaker 3>for sure. I mean the screen time of the Alphas

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<v Speaker 3>is pretty major. Kids under eight are spending at least

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<v Speaker 3>like two and a.

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<v Speaker 2>Half hours on average, way less than their parents.

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<v Speaker 3>Yes, but it's still quite a bit of screen time

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<v Speaker 3>during very formative years. At the same time, a lot

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<v Speaker 3>of like agility with technology could be a real strength

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<v Speaker 3>in AI coming into the workplace right now at a

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<v Speaker 3>time of great transformation. But also I talked to one

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<v Speaker 3>woman who started a jewelry business with her father, this

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<v Speaker 3>jewelry business, Gunner in lux. She was only five and

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<v Speaker 3>she was making jewelry out of her plastic toys and

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<v Speaker 3>her dad put picktures of it on Instagram, and then

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<v Speaker 3>she was doing deals with Barney's and it's like it's

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<v Speaker 3>pretty amazing.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, they sell thousands of pieces of jewelry. Now I

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<v Speaker 2>got her inlocks.

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<v Speaker 4>Well, you do wonder like you know, generational shifts, right,

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<v Speaker 4>and when you have a general like we talked about

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<v Speaker 4>this all the time about I have a daughter who's

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<v Speaker 4>twenty three, and she's like, yeah, I kind of missed

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<v Speaker 4>some of the obsessiveness with like phones and stuff. Although

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<v Speaker 4>the phone is really important to her. But you do

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<v Speaker 4>wonder about a generation that grows up this way and

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<v Speaker 4>how they shape our economy and society going forward.

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<v Speaker 3>Yes, and this generation is very perhaps you can talk

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<v Speaker 3>about this a little bit with your kids, very outspoken.

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<v Speaker 3>Apparently they direct way more money within their family than

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<v Speaker 3>earlier generations, So a hundred about billion dollars in direct

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<v Speaker 3>spending power, I mean between ages one and sixteen, one

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<v Speaker 3>hundred million dollars in the US of direct spending power.

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<v Speaker 2>Apparently these kids just have.

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<v Speaker 3>A huge say over travel, food, streaming services, just a

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<v Speaker 3>much bigger voice that I mean, when I was growing up,

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<v Speaker 3>my parents did not console me on any purchases I

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<v Speaker 3>or even like what to watch on TV.

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<v Speaker 1>Firt I think they were right, I will say.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean they also think they were right. But a

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<v Speaker 2>lot of times the shows I was watching, it was

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<v Speaker 2>like when my dad got home, we would watch a

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<v Speaker 2>boxing match. Actual, yes, end of story. No, you're you're

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<v Speaker 2>absolutely right.

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<v Speaker 4>There has been a shift in terms of kids involvement,

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<v Speaker 4>and I saw it even in my household of just

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<v Speaker 4>conversations about spending money and what we're doing, and like

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<v Speaker 4>it was kind of I don't know if that's happening.

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<v Speaker 4>Your kids are young.

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<v Speaker 1>My seven year old did tell us this week because

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<v Speaker 1>it's school break right now and a lot of his

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<v Speaker 1>friends are on vacation, he said, we should have gone

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<v Speaker 1>on vacation this week. No, yes, so thank you for

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<v Speaker 1>the feedback. Where should we Where should we have taken

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<v Speaker 1>this vacation? And he said to California because then I

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<v Speaker 1>can wear shorts. And I said, that's actually that makes sense.

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<v Speaker 1>You want to go somewhere warm. But we're not going

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<v Speaker 1>on vacation this week. We're working.

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<v Speaker 4>I don't know, you know, are these is this the

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<v Speaker 4>alphas are that you have a lot of are uniquely

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<v Speaker 4>positioned to help older generations discover and navigate different things

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<v Speaker 4>like I just so good? Are like how are you

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<v Speaker 4>having done this story? And talked to different folks like

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<v Speaker 4>is this a good thing? Like what?

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<v Speaker 1>Like?

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<v Speaker 4>What's like? Where do we go with this?

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<v Speaker 3>I ended up coming away thinking it was a good thing.

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<v Speaker 3>But there's a lot of anxiety already. I mean, I

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<v Speaker 3>think the say this generation is probably the most kind

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<v Speaker 3>of fretted over and poked and product of any generation.

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<v Speaker 3>Because of the pandemic. They're being measured all the time.

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<v Speaker 3>There's already all of this anxiety over them entering the

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<v Speaker 3>workforce because a lot of teachers have gone online saying

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<v Speaker 3>these kids have no discipline, they don't listen, they don't

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<v Speaker 3>respect authority, and so of course this has spawned. I mean,

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<v Speaker 3>alphas are just about to enter the workforce or have

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<v Speaker 3>just barely entered.

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<v Speaker 4>But they were selling dewlery to Barney's or whatever the heck.

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<v Speaker 4>It was like, yeah, mean, if you think about like

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<v Speaker 4>that part, that seems like a huge plus.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know, do you think that that we're talking

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<v Speaker 1>about this generation differently than other generations have talked about

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<v Speaker 1>new generations, like Millennials, like Gen Z.

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<v Speaker 3>I think we are definitely talking about them differently because

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<v Speaker 3>I mean, I just think because of the moment we're

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<v Speaker 3>in and because we all went through the pandemic and

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<v Speaker 3>maybe in certain ways are still processing it both as

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<v Speaker 3>an economy and a society, I think the kids became

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<v Speaker 3>a focus because we could at least look at kids

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<v Speaker 3>and worry about them and their experience even while we

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<v Speaker 3>were still trying to process our own. So I think

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<v Speaker 3>for that reason we look at this generation differently, like

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<v Speaker 3>how have they been shaped by this? Also, we're on

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<v Speaker 3>the cusp of a huge technological revolution in the economy

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<v Speaker 3>with AI, and this is the generation that's going to

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<v Speaker 3>really grow up in.

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<v Speaker 4>That thirty seconds forty seconds. I do wonder at Stacy,

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<v Speaker 4>is it you know, kids we always talk about being resilient,

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<v Speaker 4>So is there a resiliency that they are coming out

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<v Speaker 4>of the pandemic with or or a setback like I

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<v Speaker 4>are we not quite sure yet.

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<v Speaker 2>I think there are definite setbacks.

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<v Speaker 3>I mean reading levels, math levels, Yes, a setback. I

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<v Speaker 3>also think resiliency is a big, big issue too. Though

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<v Speaker 3>they've they've undergone such enormous change and transformation, They've weathered

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<v Speaker 3>the stormy. They're probably are able to adapt to shifts

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<v Speaker 3>and huge changes than the rest of us were, simply

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<v Speaker 3>because that is the water they grew up swimming in.

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<v Speaker 1>M m hm