The May 24, 2010, issue of the New Yorker has a poignant cover. It’s in the style of an old-fashioned teen comic book (think Archie). Tim, wearing an Argyl sweater, is back from the university and is pinning his Ph.D. diploma up on the wall of his bedroom. As his pinched-faced parents watch him through the bedroom door, he calmly places the diploma among his high-school sports and middle-school spelling-bee trophies, his “Student of the Week” award, his basketball poster, and a photo of himself playing a guitar. The title of the cover is “Boomerang Generation.” You can see it here.
For most New Yorker readers, the cover may symbolize the depth of the recession; for many PBC readers, it also captures a sad misallocation of resources.