Blame the Rich, Not the Boomers for Economic Inequality – CounterPunch.org

Analysis of Inter-Generational Economic Disparity and the Sustainable Development Goals

Introduction

A prevailing narrative suggests that contemporary economic challenges faced by younger generations are attributable to the actions and policies of older generations, specifically the “baby boomers.” This report re-examines this claim through the framework of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It posits that the root causes of these challenges are not generational conflict but rather systemic issues of wealth inequality and policy failures that directly impede progress on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Economic Context in Relation to SDG 8 and SDG 10

Re-evaluating Generational Economic Experiences

• The period of widespread, shared prosperity in the United States (1947-1973) largely concluded before most of the boomer generation entered the workforce.
• From the 1970s through the 1990s, this generation faced significant economic headwinds, including high unemployment (averaging 11.3% for ages 20-24 from 1973-1988) and stagnant real wage growth.
• While the real median wage has increased by 30% since 1980, this growth has severely lagged behind productivity gains, which would have resulted in wages being over 100% higher had the previous correlation held.

The Impact of Wealth Redistribution on Sustainable Development

• SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities): The primary driver of economic strain is the significant upward redistribution of income towards a small, wealthy elite. This trend of intra-generational inequality is a more accurate explanation for economic precarity than inter-generational resource competition.
• SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth): The decoupling of wage growth from productivity directly undermines the principles of decent work and shared prosperity. It indicates an economic model that fails to distribute the benefits of growth equitably.
• SDG 1 (No Poverty): The concentration of wealth limits the resources available for social programs and poverty eradication efforts, making it more difficult to achieve targets related to ending poverty in all its forms.

Systemic Barriers to Achieving Key Sustainable Development Goals

Healthcare Affordability and SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being)

The high cost of healthcare in the United States presents a major obstacle to achieving SDG 3. The core issues are not demographic but structural:

• Intellectual Property Monopolies: Patent and copyright protections for pharmaceuticals and medical equipment inflate costs, redistributing wealth from the general public to corporations.
• Lack of Universal Coverage: The absence of a universal system results in administrative inefficiencies and profit-driven models that increase costs for individuals.
• Professional Protectionism: Barriers to entry for medical professionals maintain artificially high salaries compared to other developed nations.

These factors directly conflict with Target 3.8, which aims to achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection and access to quality essential health-care services. The responsibility lies with policy choices influenced by powerful lobbying groups, not a specific generation.

Housing Scarcity and SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities)

The crisis in housing affordability is a direct challenge to SDG 11. An analysis of its causes points to market and regulatory failures:

• The housing bubble of the late 1990s and early 2000s, followed by its collapse, led to a catastrophic decline in housing construction.
• Construction rates failed to recover sufficiently for over a decade, creating a significant supply shortfall that drove up prices and rents.
• This situation is a result of financial industry practices and the failure of regulators to prevent the bubble, rather than a simple consequence of generational NIMBYism.

This systemic failure directly impedes progress on Target 11.1, which calls for ensuring access for all to adequate, safe, and affordable housing by 2030.

Climate Change Inaction and SDG 13 (Climate Action)

Progress on SDG 13 has been systematically obstructed by factors beyond general consumption patterns. A significant portion of the blame rests with specific corporate actors:

• Fossil fuel companies have been documented to have deliberately funded misinformation campaigns to mislead the public and policymakers about the dangers of climate change.
• This organized effort to obscure scientific consensus has delayed critical policy action needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Holding a single generation responsible for climate change ignores the disproportionate impact of these corporate strategies and the failure of media and political institutions to counter them, thereby undermining global efforts to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

Conclusion: Reframing the Narrative for Progress on the 2030 Agenda

Shifting Focus from Generational Conflict to Systemic Reform

The narrative blaming older generations for current economic and social problems is a counterproductive misdirection. The evidence indicates that the core issues are rooted in policy decisions and systemic structures that have concentrated wealth and power in the hands of a small elite. This has created barriers to achieving multiple Sustainable Development Goals.

Implications for SDG 16 and SDG 17

1. SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions): To make meaningful progress, it is essential to address the undue influence of elite financial and corporate interests on public policy. Strengthening the integrity, accountability, and inclusivity of institutions is paramount.
2. SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals): Fostering a narrative of inter-generational conflict undermines the social solidarity and multi-stakeholder partnerships required to tackle complex, interconnected challenges. A unified approach is necessary.
3. Advancing the 2030 Agenda: An analytical focus on reducing intra-generational wealth disparity (SDG 10) is more constructive than promoting inter-generational blame. This allows for the development of effective policies that can simultaneously advance goals related to poverty, health, housing, climate action, and justice for all.

Analysis of the Article in Relation to Sustainable Development Goals

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

• The article’s central theme is the massive economic disparity and “upward redistribution of income,” which directly relates to reducing inequalities within a country. It contrasts the “ridiculously rich” with younger generations struggling economically, highlighting the growing gap between the top earners and the rest of the population.

SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

• The discussion on stagnant real wages, the disconnect between productivity growth and wage growth, and high unemployment rates for young people connects directly to the goal of achieving full, productive employment and decent work for all. The article notes that while the “real median wage in 2024 was 30 percent higher than it had been in 1980,” it should have been “more than 100 percent higher” if it had kept pace with productivity.

SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

• The article explicitly addresses healthcare affordability, a key component of SDG 3. It criticizes the high costs due to “patent and copyright monopolies” on drugs and medical equipment, the administrative costs of private insurers, and suggests “universal Medicare” as a solution to ensure well-being.

SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

• The issue of a “scarcity of affordable housing” is a major point in the article. It discusses how housing costs have outpaced inflation and wages, the housing bubble, and the subsequent underbuilding of new homes, all of which are central to the goal of making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.

SDG 13: Climate Action

• The article directly mentions the problem of a “planet that keeps getting hotter” and the need for “reducing greenhouse gas emissions.” It specifically calls out the role of fossil fuel companies in misleading the public about climate change, which relates to taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

SDG 4: Quality Education

• The article identifies the “high cost of education” as one of the primary struggles faced by younger generations. This connects to the goal of ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all, particularly regarding the affordability and accessibility of tertiary education.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

Targets under SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities)

1. Target 10.1: By 2030, progressively achieve and sustain income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the population at a rate higher than the national average. The article’s focus on the stagnant “median real wage” while a “larger share of income was diverted to high-end wages” directly addresses the failure to meet this target.
2. Target 10.4: Adopt policies, especially fiscal, wage and social protection policies, and progressively achieve greater equality. The entire argument about the problem being the “rich” and the structure of the economy, rather than a generational issue, points to the need for policies that address this upward redistribution of wealth.

Targets under SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth)

1. Target 8.5: By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all… and equal pay for work of equal value. The article’s mention of the high “average unemployment rate for people between the ages of 20-24” in previous decades and the discussion of real wage stagnation are relevant to this target.
2. Target 8.2: Achieve higher levels of economic productivity… The article highlights a major issue related to this target by pointing out the decoupling of wages from productivity: “If the median wage had kept pace with productivity growth… it would be more than 100 percent higher today.”

Targets under SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being)

1. Target 3.8: Achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all. The article’s call for “universal Medicare” and getting rid of “patent and copyright monopolies” to make drugs cheap directly aligns with achieving this target.

Targets under SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities)

1. Target 11.1: By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing. The article’s detailed discussion on the “scarcity of affordable housing,” the housing bubble, and how “rents and house sale prices to substantially outpace both inflation and wage growth” makes this target highly relevant.

Targets under SDG 13 (Climate Action)

1. Target 13.3: Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation… The article’s criticism of fossil fuel executives who “deliberately misled the public about the dangers from climate change” underscores the importance of accurate information and awareness, which is central to this target.

Targets under SDG 4 (Quality Education)

1. Target 4.3: By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality… tertiary education, including university. The article’s identification of the “high cost of education” as a key frustration for younger generations directly relates to the challenge of ensuring affordable access to higher education.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

Indicators for SDG 8 and SDG 10

• Real Median Wage Growth: The article provides specific data points, such as “The real median wage in 2024 was 30 percent higher than it had been in 1980,” which serves as a direct indicator of economic well-being for the average person.
• Unemployment Rate (by age group): The article uses this indicator when it states, “The average unemployment rate for people between the ages of 20-24 over the years 1973 to 1988… was 11.3 percent.”
• Gap between Productivity Growth and Wage Growth: This is a key implied indicator. The article quantifies it by stating that the median wage would be “more than 100 percent higher” if it had tracked productivity, measuring the divergence in economic gains.

Indicators for SDG 3

• Healthcare Expenditure: The article implies this indicator by highlighting that “health care costs way too much” and that patent monopolies redistribute “over $1 trillion a year ($8,000 per household).” This points to the proportion of income spent on healthcare.
• Cost of Medicines: The high cost of drugs due to patents is a central point, implying that the price of essential medicines is a key indicator of healthcare affordability.

Indicators for SDG 11

• Housing Price-to-Income Ratio / Housing Price-to-Rent Ratio: The article implies these indicators by stating that “house prices hugely diverging from rents” and that “rents and house sale prices to substantially outpace both inflation and wage growth.”
• Housing Supply/Construction Rate: The article provides specific data on this indicator, noting that housing construction “fell from a peak annual rate of almost 2.3 million to an annual rate of less than 500,000.”

Indicators for SDG 13

• Greenhouse Gas Emissions Levels: This is implied as the ultimate metric to be tracked when the article discusses the need for “reducing greenhouse gas emissions” to combat a “planet that keeps getting hotter.”

Indicators for SDG 4

• Cost of Tertiary Education: The article directly names the “high cost of education” as a problem, which can be measured through tuition fees, student debt levels, and the overall cost of attendance relative to median income.

4. Summary Table of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: counterpunch.org