The plight of America's young adults when dealing with exponentially rising curves has been extensively documented on these pages, with the "curve" in question - if one can call that the fastest growing debt bubble in history - being student loans issued by the Federal government. And since the curve keeps rising, and since the US housing recovery's dead cat bounces are just getting silly, the Fed decided to finally put two and two together, and admit that the reason why US household formation, despite even more rigged, seasonally-adjusted data, has ground to a halt and why young Americans simply refuse to get out of their parents' basement, is due to student debt. Of course, anyone with an ounce of common sense would have said (and did) years ago that young people burdened by massive amounts of unrepayable debt (where their Ivy League degree is a tremendous asset when applying for that burger flipping job, or to be a sales clerk at Radioshack) are literally going nowhere, but economists are... special. So this is what the Fed has uncovered after years of diligent study, as reported by the WSJ: A $10,000 increase in student debt per graduate in a U.S. state is associated with an additional 2.9 percentage point rise in the rate of 25-year-olds living with parents, according to an analysis of young Americans with credit reports by the New York Fed. Young people weighed down by student debt may try to save money by staying home—especially, research suggests, those with relatively comfortable backgrounds. Or, these young adults may be less willing or able to take on additional debt by, say, buying a home. There is a “clear positive correlation between a state’s student debt growth and the rate at which its 25-year-olds live with their parents,” the New York Fed says. You mean to say it took Federal Reserve economists countless hours of research, each of which funded with thousands of taxpayer dollars, to figure out that having $50,000 or more in debt upon graduation and a minimum wage job (if lucky) to show for that diploma means one will not be purchasing that $500,000 house? Unpossible. Some other findings: So-called “parental co-residence rates” have risen across the country over the last decade. This is the breakdown of percentage of young adults living with their parents in 2002-2003: And in 2012-2013. Some other "findings": the average Class of 2014 graduate with student-loan debt has around $33,000 to pay back, according to Edvisors. After adjusting for inflation, that is more than double the average load per borrower in 1993. The New York Fed also says it’s not all about the economy. Stronger growth and improved job prospects help young people move away from their parents, but rising local house prices can force others to move back home. “These two effects partially offset each other,” the New York Fed says. Silicon Valley is a great example: Even though its economy is doing well, high rental and housing costs are keeping kids at home. Well thank Congress, a broken legal system, the NAR, and the entire US housing industry for making a mockery of US housing, which as explained in yesterday, and all the way back in 2012, has become the new global offshore money-laundering venue, and which foreign oligarchs and tax-evading criminals are rushing hand over fist to park their money, in the process making it unaffordable for anyone but the wealthiest Americans. Perhaps one day Obama will go after this domestic version of the Swiss banking system, where half the owners of New York's ultra-luxury real estate are unknown foreign entities. For now however, US students will have to make do with dad's basement. Again: all known fact. But here is the punchline not even we were aware of: in 12 U.S. states, over half of 25-year-olds lived with their parents in 2012-13. The states: York are: New York, New Jersey, California, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Washington D.C. What this means is that quite contrary to seasonally-adjusted expectations of a surge in household formation, young America is getting progressively older, and since it has no house to call its own, and no marriage partner either (collapsing marriage rates are one side-effect of this economic devastation) all America has to look forward to is a demographic collapse comparable to that of Japan, as an entire generation of Millennials grows older, and leaves no replacement in its wake. The silver lining: Millennials may die alone, without a job, and crushed by debt, but at least they will have owned lots and lots of smartphones.