Sam Desborough explains why he was gripped by Jilted Generation, and why he thinks it should be required reading for fellow students The blurb for Jilted Generation describes it as a work of ‘irresistible polemical energy’ and this proves to be a most apt summary of Ed Howker and Shiv Malik’s writing.
Intergenerational issues in Japan
David Kingman describes the fallout from a swelling elderly population Japan is the world’s fastest ageing country, making it a good case-study for the type of intergenerational issues that could emerge in Britain as our own population gets older.
Does the increase in pension contributions for government workers matter intergenerationally?
Angus Hanton looks at the proposals for meeting the gaping liabilities in public-service pensions In the UK we are saving too little, according to the experts such as Martin Weale of the Bank of England. This ties up with personal observations: people expect to live longer, they expect to spend more, and they retire at… Read more »
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“Perhaps most ridiculous of all is the suggestion that we ‘keep’ our radioactive garbage for the use of our descendants. This ‘solution’, I think, requires an immediate poll of the next 20,000 generations.” David R Brower
Life Expectancy and Intergenerational Justice
David Kingman argues that no-one should be blamed for the fact we’re all living longer, but society has got to prepare for it On Wednesday 8 June the Guardian printed an interactive map showing how life expectancy varies across Britain.
Large scale tax avoidance in the housing market
Angus Hanton shows how current tax loopholes have intergenerational consequences People disagree on how housing should be taxed. Some people would like to see higher annual holding taxes, whether this is called Council Tax, Land Value Tax or just Property Tax, while others want to see the introduction of Capital Gains Tax on residential house… Read more »
Will future generations eat fish?
Antony Mason sees the EU fisheries policy as a classic intergenerational issue At the end of last month the TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall took his “Fish Fight” campaign to Brussels, as the first stage of rolling it out across the EU.
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“The benefits … are being paid for by mounting government debt… much of it simply implicit in the promises of what services the government will pay for. Those promises will almost certainly be broken.” Diane Coyle, The Economics of Enough
The Church and Intergenerational Justice
Angus Hanton explains why, as he sees it, the Church(es) are not on board when it comes to intergenerational matters It is perhaps surprising that British Churches, both Protestant and Catholic, have been so quiet on the subject of Intergenerational Justice, both in relation to imbalances between younger and older generations and in relation to… Read more »
The housing crisis
Antony Mason see that something has to give – but where? The Halifax came up with some depressing statistics last week. Based on a poll of 4000 non-homeowners, they found that two-thirds of young people (20–45 year olds) believe they have no prospect of ever getting on the property ladder.