Millennials are to blame for sky-high inflation, strategist says

Markets are on edge due to soaring inflation. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that inflation in the U.S. is "unacceptably high" after the consumer price index showed a 9.1% increase in June.

The causes of the steep jumps are high commodity and energy prices, Russia's war in Ukraine, record government spending packages, and low interest rates.

One investor thinks that there's another factor to blame for the problem.

"What everyone is not including in the conversation is what really causes inflation, which is too many people with too much money chasing too few goods."

In the U.S. there are 92 million people in the age group of 27 to 42 years old. The last time we saw inflation that was hard for policymakers to stop was when 75 million baby boomers were born in the 70s.

He said that a lot of people in the US are postponing homebuying and car buying for seven years.

In the past two years they all entered the party together, and this is just the beginning of a 10 to 12 year time period where there is about 50% more people that are wanting these things than there were before.

The Fed can tighten credit, but it won't reduce the number of people who want these necessities.

Burnout was cited as one of the top three reasons for younger workers who left their jobs in the past two years, according to Deloitte’s survey.

According to a number of surveys taken in the last two years, upwards of 60 percent of young people are delaying homebuying due to student debt or the simple cost of homes compared to wages.

Many people with enough money are still holding back. According to the CNBC Millionaire Survey, baby boomers are three times more likely to be cutting back on big purchases than the younger generation.

Forty-four percent of young people said higher rates have caused them to delay buying a home, compared with only six percent of boomers. More than half of young millionaires said they were postponing purchases of a car because of higher rates.

Due to the shortage of inventory and high competition, many potential buyers in the late 20s to early 40s are staying away.

The largest portion of the homebuyer market is still made up of people under the age of 30. They are the biggest generation in the U.S.

42% of home buyers are now younger than 30 years old, an increase from 37% last year, according to the latest study.

23 to 31 year olds and 32 to 41 year olds are referred to by the NAR as "Younger millennials" and "olderMillennials", respectively.

More than half of Older Millennials were first-time home buyers, according to the National Association of Retailers.

The study found that the older generation made up 25% of the buyers. Gen Xers had a median age of 49 and were the next- largest group.

Young adults have used the Pandemic to their advantage by paying down debt and moving in with family. Jessica Lautz, NAR's vice president of demographic and behavioral insights, said in the report that they are jumping head first into homeownership.

A lot of young people are left out of the picture. According to rental listing site Apartment List, in 2020 18% of young people thought they would be paying rent forever, double the rate of the previous year.

Robert Frank was a contributor.