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The Coming Generational Storm: What You Need to Know about America's Economic Future
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 332.02400973
EAN: 9780262612081
Edition: New Ed
ISBN: 0262612089
Label: The MIT Press
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 302
Publication Date: January 19, 2005
Publisher: The MIT Press
Studio: The MIT Press
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Editorial Review:
One of Library Journal's Best Business Books of 2004, A Forbes.com Top Ten Business Book for 2004, One of Barron’s 25 Best Books of 2004, Winner in the category of Economics in the 2004 Professional/Scholarly Publishing Annual Awards Competition presented by the Association of American Publishers, Inc. and CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title for 2004
This paperback edition of The Coming Generational Storm has been revised and updated and includes a new foreword by the authors.
In 2030, as 77 million baby boomers hobble into old age, walkers will outnumber strollers; there will be twice as many retirees as there are today but only 18 percent more workers. How will Social Security and Medicare function with fewer working taxpayers to support these programs? According to Laurence Kotlikoff and Scott Burns, if our government continues on the course it has set, we'll see skyrocketing tax rates, drastically lower retirement and health benefits, high inflation, a rapidly depreciating dollar, unemployment, and political instability. The government has lost its compass, say Kotlikoff and Burns, and the Bush administration's spending and tax policies have charted a course straight into the coming generational storm.
Kotlikoff and Burns take us on a guided tour of our generational imbalance: There's the "fiscal child abuse" that will double the taxes paid by the next generation. There's also the "deficit delusion" of the under-reported national debt. And none of this, they say, will be solved by any of the popularly touted remedies: cutting taxes, technological progress, immigration, foreign investment, or the elimination of wasteful government spending. Kotlikoff and Burns propose bold new policies, including meaningful reforms of Social Security and Medicare, that are simple, straightforward, and geared to attract support from both political parties.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Eye-opener
This is, simply put, a real eye-opener. I've been saying for years that the economy was a house of cards (and the housing bust and present/coming recession are proving me right), but I had no idea. This will change some of what I do regarding my present and future finances.
I give the authors credit for the way they add in occasional humor in the book. It doesn't obscure the subject at hand, but lightens up an otherwise difficult subject.
Rating: - Excellent, Thought-Provoking Book
This is an absolutely incredible book. Anyone who is interested in the future of our Social Security System and the Medicare and Medicaid systems must read this book. The authors provide good, documented evidence to explain what is broken in these vital systems. The authors explain why current politicians' plans for reform will not work and need to be revised. Most importantly the authors also give their suggestions on how to fix Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid. This was a required ... Read More
Rating: - Essential Reading - Save Early and Save Often
This book should be required reading for all high-school sophomores who are going to inherit the economic problems the authors lay out in the prologue. The more awareness my generation (x) and the younger generations get about the mounting economic conditions we will face within the next 25 years, the better prepared we will all be to fix, or at least adjust to them.
At times the book is a bit too academic and for that I give it only 4 stars but there are parts that you can skip and ... Read More
Rating:  - Informative, but speculative
Kotlikoff and Burns rightly portray congress, the president, judges, the AARP, and anyone else who favors increases, or even the status quo, of social security, Medicare, and Medicaid policies as truly irresponsible. The fact that these three entitlement programs will bankrupt the country within 50 years has been known for at least 10 years (when I started to pay attention to politics). Every year, reforms are spoken about, even good ones that would for the most part protect the programs. But every ... Read More
Rating: - Generational Fear Should be Great
This book gives a great review of the issues facing America in this century due to government give aways. After reading it I found that several current news stories seemed to be confirming the predictions in the book. The numbers are 3 years old, but the suggestions for saving Social Security and Medicare still seem to be valid. I was a little disappointed in the funds listed in the book, but I have received updated listings by visiting the Scott Burns web site.
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