Thanks to the Recession, Millennials Are Actually Pretty Frugal

Remember all those articles in the early aughts about how millennials were egotistical, privileged brats who copied whatever Paris Hilton did? (Side note: Hey, remember Paris Hilton?) As the Seattle Times put it in 2005, these kids had become "the best-dressed, least-able, least-equipped generation ever."

None of this is true — at least, not any more. Thanks in no small part to the worst economy since the Great Depression, millennials turned into functioning adults. They have a little less disposable income than they expected, which means that consumer companies are now changing to serve them. It turns out that today's 18-to-34 set likes clothes and gadgets and cool stuff just as much as earlier cohorts; they just don't buy quite so much. Read more...