"instead of working or paying rent"
Working and paying rent are tremendously over-rated.
I sorta agree with yer post. However, lemme add some hott sauce to the recipe.
I've noticed a profound change in people since COVID, and that is the adoption of a 'live for today' slant to their interpretation of life. So much of the routine expectations of people have been changed by COVID and the associated aspects of their lives (and perhaps values) that their life feels unanchored. As a result their mental lifeplan can no longer rely on the forecasts they had made pre-COVID, and they are foundation-less (or anchor-less) with their previous worldview and expectations dashed by the pandemic.
This has made many people more willing to gamble with their futures, because they feel their ability to accurately forecast the future is nott as good as they had believed it to have been pre-COViD. The anticipated devaluation of the USD thru dilution and the widespread view that only idiots buy long-term bonds, CDS, or earn 0.04% on savings - leads folks to find assets other than currency-denominated assets like bonds/cash/CDs. And this amplifies their willingness to assume risk.
Hence they throw munny at whatever seems to be appreciating in 'value' as measured by USD quote - with much less regard to risk than pre-COVID.
Because, as some have stated to me, "who cares if I lose, I could get COVID and die next week, and even if I lose, so what?" They simply care much less about their futures now. Seems weird to me, butt I have noted this sea change in many people whom I would never have expected to have seen it in.
Very strange psychology changes, IMO.
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