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Comment by kd0amg | Hacker News Reader

For about $200, young Nevadans who face a statewide 13 percent jobless rate can hop a Greyhound bus to North Dakota, where they’ll find a welcome sign and a 3.3 percent rate. Why are young people not crossing borders?

Because in addition to that $200 for the bus ticket, they'd also need money on hand for first month's rent, security deposit, probably some new furniture and houseware, etc. plus enough saved up to be able to commit to the lease without knowing how much income they'll have... if/once they do manage to line up a job.

it takes fewer weeks of work income to buy a car today than in the early 1980s, and inflation-adjusted gasoline prices didn’t get out of line until a few years ago.

"Fewer weeks of work income" only helps if you have work income.

Maybe the authors have gone too long without wondering where next month's rent is going to come from?

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"Because in addition to that $200 for the bus ticket, they'd also need money on hand for first month's rent, security deposit, probably some new furniture and houseware, etc. plus enough saved up to be able to commit to the lease without knowing how much income they'll have... if/once they do manage to line up a job."

These concerns are not unique to the current generation. Pulling up stumps and moving in search of work and prosperity has ALWAYS been risky (hell, I've done it three times so far, once while massively in debt). It's just that now there's a very strong trend towards risk aversion, which makes it that much harder for the entrepreneurial spirit to flourish.

In fact, it's even worse than that; With the internet, it's easier than ever before to find a job before you even decide whether to move or not. And yet more and more people remain complacent in a 13% jobless rate area when 3.3% is available for the taking.

Of course, the good news is that for those who ARE adventurous, there's never been a better time to move and take advantage of the opportunities created by the fear of the majority.

I like this analysis better! For bonus points, why would this generation be any more risk averse than previous generations?

Managing risk is a learned behaviour, and we've kinda got our recession on... may be they were paying attention. Heck, I couldn't be prouder of these cottonwool wrapped kids. Let's give em a low carb imitation lollypop.

North Dakota may have problems housing the itinerant Nevadans once they arrive, too. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/21/us/21ndakota.html

It seems likely that people will move / have moved interstate to take advantage of the job availabilities in ND, but it's not clear from the article why we'd expect unskilled youth to take on this mild inconvenience, as opposed to any other demographic group.

Census data does indicate that interstate migration rates are falling generally (albeit gradually), but isn't that to be expected? I hear this new fangled "Internet" means that the telecommuting cybernautic generation can work from their oxygen-controlled humidicribs, thus saving the burden of investment in loathsome, expensive transport infrastructure.

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