The Long Baby Boom: An Optimistic Vision for a Graying Generation

“Important, timely . . . should be the basis for a national debate about how we each want to grow older and what kind of society we want to do it in.”—John Rother, Group Executive Officer of Policy and Strategy, AARP

The aging of the boomer generation has unleashed a veritable tidal wave of gloomy punditry, advertising for financial services, and forecasts of impending national bankruptcy. In The Long Baby Boom, Jeff Goldsmith counters the catastrophic predictions with a far more optimistic scenario.

Drawing on evidence that most baby boomers plan on working long past age sixty-five, Goldsmith argues that they will have a constructive impact on society. By assuming a much larger portion of the financial burden of their own retirement and health costs, they will help preserve Social Security and Medicare for the less fortunate—and for successive generations.

The Long Baby Boom is the first comprehensive forecast of baby boomers’ career plans, health trends, and cultural and political values. Goldsmith’s pro-work, pro-savings, pro-health social policy emphasizes personal responsibility without ripping the social safety net. Constructive and innovative, The Long Baby Boom doesn’t promise a cloud-free future, but it does reassure us that the sky isn’t falling.

© 2008 Johns Hopkins University Press (E-bog): 9780801896415

Release date

E-bog: 26. maj 2008