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Charting The Legacy Of The Baby Boomers
While it is difficult to properly attribute blame for the collapse of the US economy, which commenced in the early 1980s, on either the Fed's policy of easy money starting with Alan Greenspan (and terminating with today's statement by Goldman that merely a suggestion of "not easing" may be equivalent to "tightening" - a symptom of a terminal junkie), or the resultant self-indulgent lifestyle of the maturing baby boomers, one thing is certain: the paradigm downturn of the United States began in the early 1980s. And here we are willing to break the cardinal rule of statistics and assume that correlation does imply causation. Because the 4 simple charts below don't lie: the US economy, as represented by its Balance of Payments, the profligacy of the US consumer, the massive expansion of consumer leverage, and the collapse in US manufacturing jobs, and specifically its current near-terminal state, is as much as legacy of the baby boom generation's actions (and lack thereof), as of everything else that has already been mulled over and scapegoated an infinite number of times in both the mainstream and fringe media.
Charts courtesy of John Lohman
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I am 28, and I have never been to New York. I started a blue collar business in 2010 and I will have to work harder than my father till the day I die because of their progressive agenda.
Boomers sold out. They thought they could have mil spec guns, organic butter and a free range chicken in every pot.
Communal Hubris
Well I wouldnt say the sky is falling, but the balance of the world at least for americans is off.
When peace loving christians wish for war against a sovereign country.
The first black president refuses to gut the banks that have robbed all peoples regardless of the color, and instead shows himself to be just as bought and paid for as the rest.
The corruption of our government is now front and center told by news companies so obviously shilling their own agenda.
But americans will line up to buy the ipad3.
Perhaps the sky isn't falling, but something is very rotten in denmark.
Bullshit.
In 1980 the boomers were at MOST in their early 30s. So maybe a handful of mayors and a couple of Congressmen. Until 2000 when they start hitting 50 they were in junior positions at most. Clinton (1996) and Bush Jr(2000) were the first boomers in big power. Up til then the decisions were all Greatest Gen decisions.
What happened was the inevitible result of democracy combined with fiat money. Given the same pair of culprits the exact same thing will happen every time and every where. Politicians who resist the siren call of 'something for the people' and something for the children' will be booted out and the slimesters who know how to say the simple magic words: 'I'm going to give you something AND lower your taxes' will be voted in.
The only way to correct this outcome is to have a monetary system that is not so easily corrupted....or perfect people.
you voted right?
Guility
I have never even missed a local election.
but...they promised me they would not cum in my mouth.
Oh...and I have no regrets for living in the 20 years when sex could not kill you. From 1960 (ish) (the beginning of birth control) to 1980 (ish) (AIDS). Before that you could die in child birth and after that, well AIDS speaks for itself. Imagine what life was like...as Austin Powers recounts...indiscrininant sex with multiple partners free of consequenses. God I miss the 60s.
I have a vintage t-shirt from the 70s that says, No, I don't have herpes. Like that was the most serious thing to worry about. Those were the days.
This lazy self absorbed, drug addicted, disco luvin, immoral boomer bought my 1st house @ 19. A hud repo for 9K. Paid for in 10 yrs. Sold @ the height of market b4 the S & L fraud for 5X what I paid. This paid for 2/3's of my next house that I got thru probate at a bargain price. Paid for in 7 yrs. No debt except taxes. Downsized 9 times @ corporate. The 1st during the RayGun era. I saw the writing on the wall then. Went back to school, Vo-Tech @ age 42. I've had 5 real vacations in 38 yrs. I've grown my own food since 1984. I saved as tho there would be no SS forthcoming. Just retired from 1 of the best blue collar jobs left. Why? I see the psychopaths are going to steal my pension & 401K. You know it gets to be a bit much when corporate starts using the webcam on your computer for voyeuristic purposes.
While I know boomers up to their eyeballs in debt, I also know plenty that are debt free.
If you're vertical & ventillating you're fucked, no matter what your generation. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. You can't afford to have ur head in the sand. Just wait until TPTB monetize water. It's coming. You can live w/o oil. Try it w/o water. Think it's not happening? There metering water wells in AR.
the reagan recession was the best thing that ever happened to me( followed closely by divorcing my first wife). it made me realize i was better off on my own to succeed or fail rather than leaving it in the hands of some hr depaartment.
Don't believe that ridiculous "consumption vs. GDP" number. It's meaningless. Look instead at National Income (with taxes subtracted) vs. government spending. That's roughly $8 trillion vs. $4 trillion. 30% of the money available to be spent on consumption is Federal spending. GDP is a factitious quantity invented by the Feds to make you feel good about the country. As an example, why does the purchase of a chicken dinner contribute $16 to the US GDP but only $2 to the GDP of China? Look at purchasing parity weighted numbers for GDPs. Whoa. All at once you see China has a larger GDP than the U.S. Go wonder.
I can't believe this... ZH has fallen for the devisive Obama class/gender/generational warfare crap! Shame!!
While I refuse to accept there are such labels as "Obama class" that mean anything...
"devisive" works, and this article is a big surprise, indeed.
The blame game is fun! Who was the first person to poop in the pool? I can argue, or I can get out of the water.
I blame the Fonz
This entire article is bullshit. The "boomers" are just as fucked up as everyone else. Get over it.
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-2033878/Aldermo...
The UK has not learned from Mozillo's NINJA zero dowen loans in America...they need to build their own cemetery of houses.
The Baby boomers are the biggest scumbags in human history. They gave nothing, took everything and then left the bill for following generations to cover.
Their level of selfishness is staggering, and now that they are starting to retire, they will undoubtedly vote in politicians who keep the gravy train rolling. So things are going to get much much worse over the next few decades.
Read this and start to work your way toward freedom, otherwise you're screwed.
http://www.amazon.com/Simple-Wealth-Mr-Andrew-Costello/dp/1463523017/ref
Very interesting. It looks like it all started falling apart the day I graduated high school. TV progammed the boomers to shop, shop, shop. know many Gen Xs who are like that too though. I hope the younguns now ignore the TV and play on the internet instead.
Every couple of weeks Tyler tosses a piece of tasty meat into the coliseum and yells, "Age Wars!"
It all makes for fun reading. Nothing changes. Nothing is solved.
Children are people who will someday blame you because their life was not everything they dreamed it would be. Play the hand you are dealt.
These threads are more entertaining than "reality TV" at least. I just hope the red meat does not come from genetically modified cattle. -- There, that should give the hounds another scent to chase.
If the chart shows that consumption as a % has stayed the same, forget increasing while GDP has risen in dollar terms yet wages and income has stagnated that is amazing.
So the money has come from credit and raiding the retirement account/inheritance and at some point the music needs to stop.
As we've all known you cant spend to infinity without producing and at some point the jenga towermust come down, probably in terms of confidence in currency. That could be tomorrow or 40 years from now though, don't underestimate the skill of a central banker in letting the band play. (or putting on a CD and pretending the band yet plays)
It's not the people of America's fault no matter what generation. the elite have moved the levers of power for many years before Kennedy and IKE. GE and other multinationals along with banks and the never exposed Insurers (hi mr Buffet) have moved gov policy to : off shore jobs, inflate the dollar, regulate the compitition, corrupt the media. all the while saying to those who saw the policy of socialism as what it truly is: RULE BY THE ELITES.
The public stays asleep, because that is the reality given them by those who own the media and news outlets and now the education system.
America is a land rich in all the basic goods for it's people - until the elite came and raped it.
even today Tyler and most here on ZH see the trees but not always the forest..Nafta is the perfect example of policy for the elites add in the FED...but the goal has been to destroy America as it was prior to Wilson.
Alarming number of people posting here still really don't get it.
It is not the common man, regardless of age, that is responsible for the current state of affairs.
Nothing could please our elite globalist puppet-masters more than to see the 99% splintered and divided into groups pointing fingers at each other. They have been using "divide and conquer" very successfully for a long time.
Stay focused on the perpetrators of the fiat ponzi scheme that is tearing the country apart.
If someone tries to redirect the blame back onto any group of the common people, you should question their motive instantly.
Do not let the sociopathic elite point out who is to blame. They are responsible, but they will try anything to deflect the blame away from themselves.
Bullshit! It is the American people that elect the elites to power. Americans have become little Homer Simpsons - lazy and fat. It is our job to be active in the community, on school boards and polically to maintain the system - of course that would take affort and accountability which Americans dont want. How many single parents are raising kids now??? Yes a single parent can feed a kid till it is older but a single parent CANT raise a child to be a balanced adult. Even though there are idiots that think they are great - they really arent. Look at Barry OBama - his dad left him to go screw African women when Barry was young - no wonder he is F'd up. You can say the same thing about Hitler - look what his mother did to him. I can list multiple cases of people like this in my life. Today to many Americans lack the moral character to deal with life properly. There is an entire generation of Barry Obamas comming of age. It is the fault of both men and women - each is devoid of character. I am hiring these young kids in my business toay and they are screwed up.
>>>>>Bullshit! It is the American people that elect the elites to power.
You're assuming a difference between the candidates from both party's as if there's a real choice.
>>>>>Today to many Americans lack the moral character to deal with life properly.
Is that why you began this thread with "Bullshit"? Get off ur moral high horse.
>>>>I am hiring these young kids in my business toay and they are screwed up.
If they're so screwed up & you're hiring them, who's the one that's really screwed up?
let, remember selected by dibold not elected..you think there has been a choice in politics this past half century? we get the dirtiest dregs they can find to control them in office with blackmail , those pols who could get to be a problem they just kill.
It is not productive to complain about manufacturing employment. Of all the areas of the economy, manufacturing enjoys gains in capital productivity far more than most other areas. What counts is the amount of manufacturing sales and the percent of the GDP.
So let me understand. I'm an evil old fart because i worked my whole life to buy worthless crap or because i worked my whole life to save?
Anyone who agrees to work for a wage automatically reproduces the source of their daily misery. Baby Boomers are just the most recent ones to do it and they went all the way.
http://libcom.org/library/reproduction-everyday-life-fredy-perlman
I will say that I am ashamed of the leaders (Government AND Corporate)of my generation. Yep, They are the ME people. The rest of us that busted our ass for stagnant wages and tried to save in a time of ever increasing costs were just along for the ride. No matter what Party we put in power the greed remained the same for the 1%. So fuck you people that say it's ALL the boomer's fault. I wonder how many of you are living in your boomer parents home, Still. It's like the Hitler Youth that would turn in their parents. Disgusting.
I have always blamed the Baby Boomers, since before it was cool.
This is what the central planners hope to turn China into... and China is willing and able which is the sad thing. History is doomed to repeat itself as a result of not learning from mistakes.
All that potential thrown away...
You cannot blame the Boomers anymore than they can claim to be victims. These people just happened to come of age as the influence of the marketing and advertising industries became very strong and influential. The retail industry has become incredibly good at convincing us that we are richer than we think, need more than we do, and even deserve more. Just as we would be susceptible to new viruses, we were susceptible to this exploitation of our weaknesses by those who had gained a thorough understanding of how we think. Let's admit that the art of retailing has almost been perfected. I say almost because undoubtedly more improvement was on the way except the resource that it depended upon has been depleted beyond recovery. "The Music Man" came to town and made us all believe we could be be virtuoso performers, but reality eventually dawns. Consumerism is dying quickly, It's time to give up on the fiddle and get back to the work that supports a sustainable lifestyle. We could start by installing governments that support that ideal.
Reading through all the posts here it seems to me that everyone is playing the blame game. The fact that there are generational splits is hardly relevant to the underlying corruption that exists independent of whatever generation happens to be passing through the so called halls of power. One could argue that corruption was present during the formative years of the American Republic, and there could be no argument with that hypothesis. What went on in the country up until the corruption introduced leading to the election of Woodrow Wilson was child’s play in comparison. Again the same could be said for the secret societies that exhibited various levels of influence during those early years. Think about the Tavistock institute, Carnegie institute and their abject control of the National Education Association and you will see how badly the education system has served all the generations represented in these comments.
However, the corruption ball didn’t get rolling until one quiet Christmas Eve in 1913, when the ‘savior’ of the American banking system was born – The so called Federal Reserve System. It is neither federal or does it provide reserves. This creation aptly called The Creature From Jekyl Island in the book of the same name by G. Edward Griffin, was preceded by the introduction of the income tax earlier that same year. Together these two acts of congress provided the basis for creation of a debt currency issued by the Federal Reserve, and the means to pay the interest on it to the Federal Reserve. This in lieu of the US Treasury simply issuing Treasury notes with no corresponding interest to be paid.
The final nail in the economic coffin was the closing of the gold window in 1971. This turned the currency loose to become pure fiat. With no restrictions on money creation corruption was off to the races.
I am a member of the socalled silent generation and have boomer children and millenial grandchildren. I don't see a lot of difference between them and members of my generation except for the fact that information is more readily availble to them than it was during my younger days. So be it, but I have postulated a law that says 'If information can be ignored or misunderstood it will be.'
I am dismayed when I look around town in the various shpping centers to see how fat dumb and happy most people really are. I think from what is visible out there that the people of this country will get what they deserve considering how they behave.
So, irrespective of how we may all rant and rave here about this generation or that one, unless we all come together and get rid of the duopoly controlled by the boys in the back room we are all dooomed.
It looks to this octogenarian that Ron Paul represents our best hope in these perilous times.