Your 20s: risky bets, crypto hype, and meme stocks. 🎲 Sabrina Maddeaux and Mike Moffatt explain why being priced out of a home is turning saving into gambling — and why young men are taking the biggest swings.

In this episode of The Missing Middle – Classonomics, we unpack why a generation priced out of housing is turning to meme stocks, crypto, and online sports betting instead of traditional saving. Mike and Sabrina explore how the “gamification” of investing on your phone blurs the line between investing and gambling, why young men dominate high-risk trading, and what research tells us about the link between gambling, crypto, and financial stress.

The conversation introduces the idea of “financial nihilism” — when homeownership feels impossible, big bets can start to seem rational. They also debate solutions, from tighter gambling advertising rules to better financial education and, most importantly, fixing housing affordability. Is this risky behavior a cultural problem, a policy failure, or both? Watch to find out — and tell us in the comments if you’ve ever placed a big bet with your money.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction

01:10 The high-risk landscape

02:15 Personal experience with risk

03:00 Demographics of gamblers and investors

04:35 Gambling vs investing

05:30 The Risks of sports gambling & prediction markets

06:52 The difference between zero-sum and negative-sum behaviour

08:53 The link between gambling & crypto trading

11:01 How the culture of gambling is hurting young men

12:22 How the housing crisis leads to financial nihilism

14:22 How big risks start to become rational choices

15:38 The role of social media

16:24 YOLO spending and the gendered aspect of risky bets

17:50 Mike drops a hockey metaphor

19:23 Solutions: Regulation, education and home ownership

Research:

Canada Is Finally Regulating Stablecoins – Here’s Why It Matters

Cryptocurrency trading, gambling and problem gambling

"Giving Up": The Impact of Decreasing Housing Affordability on Consumption, Work Effort, and Investment

Newsletter Sabrina mentions:

1 big thing: Gen Z plays the economy like a casino

Are We Ignoring a Generation of Struggling Young Men?

All Bets Are On: The Rise of Prediction Markets

The Doom Spenders

polymarket.com Website Traffic Demographics

Gambling Statistics Canada 2026 – Unveiling Canada’s Gambling Landscape

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

This podcast is funded by the Neptis Foundation and brought to you by the Smart Prosperity Institute.

Yesterday, Bank of Canada governor Tiff Mackem warned that early evidence shows AI is reducing the number of entry-level jobs available.

Are we heading toward a future of mass unemployment, or is AI just the latest "calculator" to change how we work? Cara Stern and Mike Moffatt dive deep into the data behind AI's impact on demographics and the workforce.

While Mike leans into historical optimism, Cara brings the receipts: a recent Stanford study showing a 13% drop in employment for young workers in AI-exposed fields since the release of ChatGPT. We explore which jobs are "AI-proof," why Gen X seems to be winning (again), and what policy changes could help young people get a foot in the door.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction

00:29 Why Mike is unconcerned about AI taking his job

01:30 Why Cara is worried about AI

02:21 Young works AI exposed jobs see 13% drop

03:52 Examining AI exposed occupations

04:30 How AI impacts different cohorts of workers

06:12 Understanding the impact of AI on wages

06:54 Being well rounded is the best protection

08:16 Trades, healthcare and education will continue to be in demand

09:20 Mike shares a story from the olden times

10:00 Mike’s take on going into the trades

11:20 Mike on wages

12:18 Focus on developing skills

13:17 The role of policymakers and solutions

Research/links:

Canaries in the Coal Mine? Six Facts about the Recent Employment Effects of Artificial Intelligence

Youth in Canada will need help gaining experience in the AI era

No to being young again; The struggles of Canadian youth employment - CIBC Capital Markets

Canada must pioneer AI adoption that creates job opportunities: Ryan Khurana in Canadian Affairs | Macdonald-Laurier Institute

Canaries in the Coal Mine? Six Facts about the Recent Employment Effects of Artificial Intelligence

Youth in Canada will need help gaining experience in the AI era

No to being young again; The struggles of Canadian youth employment - CIBC Capital Markets

Canada must pioneer AI adoption that creates job opportunities: Ryan Khurana in Canadian Affairs | Macdonald-Laurier Institute

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

This podcast is funded by the Neptis Foundation and brought to you by the Smart Prosperity Institute.

Canada’s housing ladder is broken. In this episode of Missing Middle, Sabrina Maddeaux and Mike Moffatt explain why the starter home no longer works and how an entire generation has been locked out of moving up.

They compare buying a detached home in 2004 for $168,000 with today’s reality, where condos fail as a first step and buyers are trapped with no clear path forward. The conversation explores how this breakdown affects family formation, careers, ambition, and Canada’s economic future.=

If homeownership feels impossible, this episode explains why and why it matters.

Do you still believe the starter home works, or has the housing ladder completely collapsed where you live?

Chapters:

00:00 — What “Buying Your First Home” Used to Look Like

00:40 — Mike’s First House: A Brand-New Detached Home… as a “Starter”

01:47 — Why That Dream Is Gone for Today’s Buyers

02:29 — What “Starter Home” Means Now vs. Then

05:23 — “Aging Out” of the Starter Home

07:03 — Trapped in a Condo

09:58 — The “Second-Time Buyer Problem” Explained

11:09 — Housing, Birth Rates, and Canada’s Demographic Crisis

13:37 — Careers Limited by Real Estate, Not Talent

18:45 — Why Politicians Are Getting This Wrong

Research links:

Teranet Market Insights Q1 2025

National Bank Housing Affordability Monitor

CMHC Housing Market Outlook 2025

CMHC Housing Supply Report 2025

Royal LePage House Price Survey and Market Forecast

Statistics Canada - Homeownership and Mortgage Debt of Tax Filers

CIBC Economics - Housing Affordability Reports

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

This podcast is funded by the Neptis Foundation and brought to you by the Smart Prosperity Institute.