Terrible news: Millennials are finally buying houses

This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a cursed generation of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. Sign up here.Today’s Agenda Millennials are finally bu [Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a cursed generation of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - Millennials are [finally buying houses](. - Something must [be done about drones](. - Medicare should [test an iffy Alzheimer’s drug](. - Stocks have a [breadth problem](. Uh-Oh: Millennials Can Buy Stuff Now A generation whose young adulthood has been marred by 9/11, two major wars, the global financial crisis and Great Recession, a pandemic and not one but two rounds of [Von Dutch]( hats trending is about to get some revenge. Millennials — the oldest of which recently turned 40 — are [finally settling down and buying houses](, and all the durable goods that come with them, writes Rachel Rosenthal. That includes cars to ferry kids to soccer practices and Von Dutch outlets. This is good news for an economy that runs on consumer spending, except for one problem: Prices of houses, and all the durable goods that come with them, and also cars, are already ludicrously high. Add growing demand from America’s largest generation, and it’s hard to see how prices don’t get even higher, because economics. Just another thing for millennials to [ruin](! (We’re just kidding. Please give us jobs, millennials.)   Bonus Buying-Stuff Reading: - For high-end car shoppers, [it makes sense to go electric now](. — Conor Sen - The problem for some retirees is that [they don’t spend enough](. — Alexis Leondis Drones Are Out of Control A bipartisan passion of U.S. presidents throughout this millennium has been delivering death from above via unmanned drone. The results are often tragic, claiming far too many [civilian victims](. Unfortunately, [the deadly drone business is booming](, with governments around the world wanting in, writes Ruth Pollard. In theory, these weapons should limit casualties by obviating the need for boots on the ground and pinpointing military targets. In reality, they have a tendency to do the opposite of that. And with no international rules for their use, the tragedies will keep mounting. Meanwhile, the door for even deadlier forms of robot warfare is wide open.  Iffy Drugs ‘R’ Us Last June, the FDA [inexplicably]( approved Biogen’s experimental Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm, despite no evidence it works and over the objections of its own experts. Now Medicare is being asked to pay for Aduhelm, which costs $28,200 a year — after a generous 50% price cut — pushing Medicare premiums higher for everybody. Not great! If the government insists on paying for this, write Medicare advisers Peter Bach and Rita Redberg, then it should at least [require patients to join a clinical trial](. It’s the best way to be sure of this drug’s usefulness, if any such thing even exists. Telltale Charts The U.S. “stock market” these days basically consists of a handful of bloated tech companies — including Apple, which today [hit $3 trillion in market cap](, a number Tae Kim struggles to justify. Ever since the days of the “Nifty Fifty,” such [narrow market breadth has been a sign]( of poor returns ahead, warns Gary Shilling. Further Reading The Biden administration [shouldn’t rescind the Remain in Mexico]( policy. It should make it safer instead. — Bloomberg’s editorial board [Jan. 6 hearings won’t change many minds]( but can still make a difference. — Jonathan Bernstein Don’t be fooled by diplomacy: [Putin is prepping for war]( in Ukraine. — Niall Ferguson Iran is [building an even higher firewall]( around its internet, favoring control over e-commerce. — Bobby Ghosh Mario [Draghi quitting as prime minister]( to become president is a bad idea. — Rachel Sanderson [Food insecurity is still a big problem]( for many Americans, and assistance is drying up. — Adam Minter ICYMI We’re probably [undercounting Covid cases](. Ivanka and Donald [Trump Jr. were subpoenaed](. Here’s everything [Wall Street expects for 2022](. Kickers Microsoft Exchange [had a Y2K22 bug](. (h/t Scott Kominers) The omicron variant [may have mutated in mice](. The Atlantic’s [vital currents could collapse](. Ten 2021 [discoveries that could inspire inventions](. Notes: Please send Soylent Green and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Twitter]( and [Facebook](. Like Bloomberg Opinion Today? [Subscribe to Bloomberg All Access and get much, much more](. You’ll receive our unmatched global news coverage and two in-depth daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Bloomberg Opinion Today newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( | [Ad Choices]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022