>I believe that the answers to this crucial question are obscure and are unlikely to be found in conventional economic and political analysis.
I'm astounded by this comment. Are you saying that the obvious answers of asset based inflation caused by our monetary policy does not majorly impact real estate in a way that hurts younger generations and the middle class?
I can't see how. It's basic math.
If assets rise in price and two people are leveraged into assets the same amount, who gets richer, the person with a 100k asset or the person with a 500k asset?
Oh, lovely. No, that's not it. Asset-based inflation is very much the better answer because that's how exponential things play out. Low interest rates stop (mild) inflation from bleeding off asset bubbles, so people do that because there's no risk.
To the extent that Baby Boomers foemented low interest rates and low inflation ( although that's arguable too - the 1980s were not exactly peak Boomer years - see the 1990s for that to really take shape ) you are correct, but it's really just collateral damage. When you make this much more money sitting on land for umpety years until its developed, that's the business culture you'll end up with.
Throw in the effect of 401k plans dragging everybody into the stock market and you get an even fuller picture.
A lot of Boomers are really boned. Like, poor. More than is commonly written about.
ObDisclosure: I am a cusp baby between the Boomers and GenX, early '60s model.
It is a generational wealth transfer. But when boomers die, they're generally leaving that wealth to millenials, aren't they? Except that the boomers also have a lot of debt.
That would depend very much on how the wealth is consumed I would guess. If it is used to finance vacations to Mexico and throw away imported consumer goods, that wealth will be lost. If it was used to build nice cities and finance great art, it would be preserved.
I'm astounded by this comment. Are you saying that the obvious answers of asset based inflation caused by our monetary policy does not majorly impact real estate in a way that hurts younger generations and the middle class?
I can't see how. It's basic math.
If assets rise in price and two people are leveraged into assets the same amount, who gets richer, the person with a 100k asset or the person with a 500k asset?