Generation Z is taking over. In the rich world, there are at least 250 million people born between 1997 and 2012. About half are now in a job. In the average American workplace, the number of Gen Zers (sometimes also known as “Zoomers”) working full-time is about to surpass the number of full-time baby boomers, those born from 1945 to 1964, whose careers are winding down. Gen Z is also grabbing power: America now has more than 6,000 Zoomer chief executives and 1,000 Zoomer politicians. As the generation becomes more influential, companies, governments and investors need to understand it.

Pundits produce a lot of fluff about the cohort. Recent “research” from Frito-Lay, a crisp maker, finds that Gen Zers have a strong preference for “snacks that leave remnants on their fingers”, such as cheese dust. Yet different generations also display deeper differences in their personalities, in part due to the economic context in which they grow up. Germans who reached adulthood during the high-inflation 1920s came to detest rising prices. Americans who lived through the Depression tended to avoid investing in the stock market.