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Graduating in a recession is really unfair to the graduate. Economists have looked at the effects on lifetime wages and it's estimated that recession kids lose in aggregate about 20% in lost lifetime wages, and to no fault of their own.

Of course this is an aggregate figure, but it goes to show how uneven economic outcomes can be across cohorts.

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Life’s not fair in general. Personally though I have no regrets starting my career in 2001. Sure it was harder to get a job and it paid less, but it made me more willing to join a startup which gave me experience and skills that opened more leadership doors later.

By contrast I see a lot of folks with 10-15 years experience whose “normal” is an unprecedented bull market where stock is continuously up and to the right with very little correlation to their actual work. Yeah they made more money than I did, but I don’t believe their psychology is in a better place.

Either way, you can’t control for these things in life, just have to play the hand you’re dealt.

>I don’t believe their psychology is in a better place.

People are as ignorant and stupid as their experience in life permits.

This is why highly imperfect messages about privilege resonate despite being imperfect (which they must be to resonate, perversely).

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