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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I go back and forth on this topic, to be honest.

I think there are things the Boomers (collectively) have done wrong.  They turned housing, for example, into an investment bubble.

On the other hand, I know plenty of Boomers who had their pensions taken away due to companies declaring bankruptcy.

But I think a lot of this anger/resentment toward the Boomers comes from the sense that the American Dream has turned out to be a Pyramid Scheme, and they seem to be (in general) the generation cashing out.  
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Hate to break it to you, but the boomers bought their houses decades before the bubble. They were 50-60 when the bubble started.  They were not the ones taking out iffy mortgages.  How on earth did it become their fault?[/quote]

Yes, but they were the ones cashing out.  And they were in charge of the banks pushing the iffy mortgages.  Most younger generations buying at that time were facing housing costs that had risen many times more than salaries.  When Boomers were buying their first homes, housing costs relative to salaries made housing far more attainable, made saving for a down payment far more possible.

Again, this isn't entirely the fault of Boomers, but it happened while they were in the positions of power.

That's not to say a lot of Boomers haven't been hurt by this.

I think there are some statistics that show that right now what is going on is a huge transfer of wealth -- not from rich to poor but from young to old.  This kind of transfer of wealth did not happen when the Boomers were young.  They usually fared better than their parents and had some upward mobility.  But that has shifted.  That is why people have such disdain for the Boomers, even though I don't think one generation or set of people can be blamed (there are many factors that come into play).

But a lot of young people are seeing the cost of housing, college education, et cetera, rise disproportionately do salaries in a way that was not the case when the Boomers were young and starting out.  That is where the disdain comes from.

But of course, I do also know Boomers who have also been hurt by changes (primarily the move away from pensions).  [/quote]

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