Europe’s unrest today is a warning America can’t ignore. The riots and protests across the region are not isolated events. They are signals of a generation losing patience with governments that talk of prosperity while offering little relief from unemployment, rising rents, and shrinking opportunity. The discontent on European streets may look distant, but in many ways, US youth are just a step behind.
Why Europe matters to America
European nations, at least, have social safety nets — including subsidies, healthcare, and wage protections — that soften the blow. Yet those same countries are experiencing unrest because young people see no clear path forward. In the US, where safety nets are weaker, the potential for social fracture is even greater once frustrations boil over.
America’s youth squeeze
Young Americans face:
Housing that’s out of reach — home prices and rents have outpaced wages since the global financial system collapse in 2008. Today’s youth have watched their parents struggle to make ends meet.
Debt burdens that weigh heavily — student loans and credit card balances leave little room for saving. Many believe these debts will never be fully repaid and that they’ll be forever enslaved to the banking system.
Job insecurity — employment for the youth who are fortunate to have a job is increasingly gig-based. There are very few benefits and no stability.
Lower interest rates, which Washington touts as a cure-all, won’t fix these problems. Rate cuts may help financial markets, boost Elon Musk into the trillion-dollar man, and earn Oracle’s Larry Ellison $101 billion in a single morning. Still, they won’t create affordable housing or provide millions of young workers with meaningful careers and satisfying lives.
The illusion of prosperity
As I wrote yesterday, markets are propped up by speculation. Bitcoin remains near record highs, the S&P 500 has yet to crack, and gold is surging as a warning signal. Investors sense that monetary policy has reached its limits, but they see the powers-that-be continuously stretch those limits. Meanwhile, young people sense that the promise of upward mobility is rapidly closing. Both are illusions of wealth — one financial, one social — and both are fragile.
The Sanders signal
This week, Bernie Sanders turned 84, yet he continues to draw crowds of tens of thousands, many of them young people filling stadiums across America. Agree or disagree with his politics, the message is clear: Sanders connects. Youth are listening because he gives voice to their frustrations in ways the political establishment does not. That energy may remain political, or, as Europe shows, it could spill into the streets if ignored.
The real risk
History shows that when youth feel shut out of opportunity, unrest follows. Europe is demonstrating that now. The U.S. has a chance to act before its own tipping point, but Congress and the administration remain locked in partisan conflict. Without bold policy — investments in youth employment, housing renewal, and real wealth-building projects — investor confidence will eventually erode along with social stability.
Takeaway
Gold may be the market’s canary, but America’s youth are society’s. If policymakers fail to listen, the warning will come not only from charts and prices, but from the streets. And when that happens, markets will finally be forced to face what politics has ignored.
What are the bold policy ideas here Bill? What are examples of "real wealth-building projects"?
Excellent