Generation Debt: How Our Future Was Sold Out for Student Loans, Bad Jobs, NoBenefits, and Tax Cuts for Rich Geezers--And How to Fight Back

You have to read it to the end

In all honesty, this was an assigned book for my high school econ class, which is not my favorite subject, nor was I sure it was going to be my favorite. Kamenetz is indubitably a talented journalistic writer, and her subtle wit was enjoyable. Because it is not a subject I relish learning about, this book was not the most riveting I have read. That being said, I think it is important for you to read the WHOLE book, because like it or not, it grew on me a little by the end. As depressing as the bulk of it was, the end was rather uplifting, and Kamenetz seems determined to change the way things currently are. It is a useful book for those "adultescents" struggling financially, and if you can look past the dismal anecdotes and statistics, it is worth reading.

Useful and Boring goes hand-in-hand

As a high school senior taking the scary plunge into tuition, financial aid, student housing credit cards, etc. I figured that this book would aid me through my college years with little debt as possible. Anya Kamenetz does an amazing job conveying that the it is steadily getting harder for this generation to be successful but I constantly found myself, well, bored. I'm not sure if it has to do with my age or attention span or what, but I found it difficult to complete the book. It was a useful book but now I am more scared than ever to dive into college. It was a boring, useful, reality check.

Interesting Subject, and a true account of the young

The book did a real good job at identifying the problem, but offered little to solve any of them. It is wonderfuld Ms. Kamenetz is able to bring this to the national level. However, if you actually want to find some practical solutions to keeping children away from this debt, you might want to try a book entitled Save Generations Y and Z, it at least offers some suggestions of what can be done to prevent children from accumulating debt.

Good at seeing the problems, poor at proposing solutions.

I enjoyed the book. Kamenetz is an engaging writer who holds the reader's attention. Some of my favorite quotes from the book: 'If you look at where public resources are directed--toward the already wealthy, toward building prisons and expanding the military, away from education and jobs programs--it is easy to see a prejudice against young people as a class.' 'It's hard to commit to a family, a community, a job, or a life path when you don't know if you'll be able to make a living, make a marriage last, or live free of debt.' '. . . a [Social Security] tax cut for high earners today is really a massive tax increase for those whose careers are largely ahead of us.' Kamenetz does a good job describing the obstacles facing young people today. I'm a bit older than her interviewees (depending on which historian you pick, I was born in the last year of the Baby Boom or the first year of the Baby Bust). I certainly don't have much in common with the Vietnam generation. I managed to fall into some of the traps she discusses--I have a big chunk of student loan debt from graduate school, but eight years later I'm making about the same money now as I did before I got that extra degree. Facing twenty or so more years of payments, I agree with Kamenetz' message that young people should think twice before going into debt for their education. Kamenetz does a poor job in diagnosing some of the reasons for young peoples' economic problems. She says nothing about the increase in the U.S. population. The real problem with the Boomers is not that they were especially selfish, but that there were too many of them. The preceding WWII generation came home from the war with the idea that they deserved a happy suburban family life in return for their wartime sacrifices. They assumed the party was going to last forever, and that they could invite as many new people as they wanted. The result is they had lots of kids, and also let in enormous numbers of new immigrants. Unfortunately, all those extra people have meant big declines in quality of life. The Generation X and Yers are now having to deal with reduced expectations, because there just isn't enough land or resources for them to live like their parents or grandparents. Kamenetz misses the boat on some economic questions. She is puzzled by the recent jobless recovery, where there has been consistent economic growth but no new jobs created. The truth is that there was no recovery. The economic growth the government is so proud of giving us is nothing but the product of poor economic reporting. Economic growth is conventionally measured by GDP, which doesn't include any corrections for population growth, depletion of natural resources, pollution costs, or decline in the quality of life. More accurate economic measures such as the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW), show that there has been little or no real economic growth since the 1970s. Kamenetz is too optimistic about the potential for economic growth in the future, as well. The next decade or so is likely to bring serious economic problems in the U.S., as we pass the global oil peak. For more on this, I would suggest reading Kunstler's 'The Long Emergency.' Kamenetz is naive on the subject of health care. She proposes a national health care system, but that would not address the real problem. Having insurers pay for most health care costs has decoupled doctors from financial reality. The result is that a huge percentage of our health care dollars go to pay for heroic care for people who are terminally ill and in their last few months of life. Medicare has made this problem worse, by making taxpayers pay to insure people that private insurers would never be able to offer affordable policies to. I don't see any way to stop this runaway train other than to get rid of Medicare altogether. I know it sounds harsh, but the market is the best way to regulate who gets health care and who does not. Kamenetz nee

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