Having been a member of the IPOD Generation Facebook group since circa 2007 (IPOD: Insecure, Pressured, Over-taxed and Debt-ridden) this is a theme certain FT Alphaville members are particularly au fait with (not literally, of course).
Long or Short Capital has a good take on the subject today:
So far, Obama has taken aim at the rich boys. He has taken them to task for their profligate greed. His party has introduced their corporate masters to the Frankonian Inquisition, flailing on them until they confess their sins, and repent their evil ways. His budget punishes their success, reins in their charity, all while giving each of their serfs their very own kingdom.
While this seems to indicate the rise of a new age of internecine class warfare in America, we’d argue instead that these moves will lead to a new age of productive age warfare in America. What the second quote demonstrates is that this country is (should) not going to be Rich vs Poor. No, the war being fought is Now vs the Future, or more aptly, Baby Boomers vs Everyone Younger.
Yes, yes! Think about it. Off the top of our heads, here’s a quick list of grievances of today’s young.
The worst grievance of all, however, must surely be that we are now paying for the excesses of the generations before us on a massive scale. US debt is through the roof, having risen a cool $1 trillion since the fall of Lehman brothers, as is the UK’s. Hence we echo Long or Short’s closing remarks:
You know what kids today aren’t responsible for? This mess. This is all you, Baby Boomer Bob and Baby Boomer Betty. You put US here with your wanton spending on cars, houses and erections, with your hubristic manipulation of interest rates and free markets, your sense of entitlement, the way in which you transformed politics and Government into a galvanized arena of us vs them, and your cohort’s giant ego…Recommendation: Here’s my advice for the rest of my cohort. Take dead aim on the boomers. Get them in the crosshairs and take them down. Just remember, they may be buying everything with your money, but they can’t buy backbone. The sooner we, rich, poor and everyone in-between, come together and shake the Baby Boom death grip off both power and purse, the better.
The only flipside perhaps, is that the value of the older generation’s assets and savings is quickly being eroded via low interest rates, quantitative easing, and the general drop in house prices, stocks, etc. But hey, they’ll be dead soon, and we’ll still be paying off their debts 50 years from now — probably without the benefit of defined pensions and second homes to sustain us. Hey ho.
Related links: Ipod generation ‘are worse off’ – BBC Anxious life of the IPOD generation – Times Online Short class warfare, long age warfare – Long or Short Capital