Triumph of the Yuppies: America, the Eighties, and the Creation of an Unequal Nation

Triumph of the Yuppies: America, the Eighties, and the Creation of an Unequal Nation by Tom McGrath

The yuppies came to prominence during the 1980s. The term was not the first one to be used to describe the group, but it was the one that stuck. They sought out money in the corporate world. Yuppies focussed on career first and would work long hours and eschewed starting families. They worse suits and preferred living in the city to the distant suburbs. This led to gentrification and popularity of trendy urban eateries and health clubs. They tended to be socially liberal, yet fiscally conservative. They supported Reagan and led to Democrats pivoting away from New Deal policies. 

The Yuppies were self observant and self deprecating. Marketers would cater to them. Near the end of the 80s, they had run their course. The wall street crash of 1987 was an event that triggered the end. Culture started to turn against the yuppies and they started to raise kids and move out to the suburbs. Since then, history has continued to go through different faces as young people flock to cities to earn huge amount of money, only next time they were casually dressed tech bros.                                                                           

The book is an interesting cultural history, but feels a bit thin.