BOOMERS: We can't help it! Good times made us buy all the cool stuff
BOB RAYNER Saturday, September 2, 2006
We baby boomers took our name from the explosion in birth rates from 1946 to 1964. But it could just as easily describe the economic boom times that have dominated our lifetimes. That growing prosperity has molded our attitudes, expectations and lifestyles, just as the Great Depression shaped the outlooks of our parents. In 1959, when the oldest boomers were in junior high school and a few million weren't yet born, nearly one in four American households lived in poverty. Today, it's about one in eight, according to figures released this week by the U.S. Census Bureau. Since the late 1960s, when the first boomers joined the work force, the purchasing power of the typical American family has expanded by more than 30 percent, after adjusting for inflation. And the good times keep getting better. Since 1982, the American economic experience has been marked by strong growth, declining inflation, rising income, world-beating job creation and grab-the-tail bull markets in stocks, bonds and housing. "Growth has been really good for the past two decades," said Jeffrey Lacker, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. "Expansions are longer, steadier . . . and there've been fewer recessions. The recessions we've had there have only been two over the last 20 years -- have been shallower." Plus, Lacker said, inflation has dropped dramatically since the early 1980s, though it's attempting a little revival now. Not all boomers are rich, of course, but strong economic expansion has created a vast corps of Americans who are used to financial security and comfortable living. Some cynics suggest it's made us a bit spoiled. I'm not sure about that, but we have grown accustomed to a widespread prosperity that's rare in human experience. Lord knows what our children will expect. More than likely, it begins with an "m" and ends with an "o-r-e." But what's the point of doing well if you can't share it with your kids? It's a lesson we learned ourselves when we were little. "We grew up with prosperity. We're consumers," said Matt Thornhill, president of The Boomer Project in Richmond. "But you know who taught us that? Our parents. We had all these gadgets and gizmos that our parents just bought and bought and bought." Sure, our folks earned their reputations as savers, but they were buyers too: color TVs, microwaves, stereos. And you didn't hear us complain. "So what are we going to do?" Thornhill said, laughing a little. "Next thing you know, we are all big-time, entitled consumers." The Depression was about finding food and shelter. Most boomers have that taken care of. "What economic hardship have we endured?" Thornhill asked. "Three-dollar gas? That's not economic hardship by any objective measure." No, but it can put a crimp in your weekend out-to-dinner budget. What's that? Home cooking? On Saturday night? You've got to be kidding.
Staff writer Bob Rayner, at age 46, considers himself a youthful boomer. Contact him at brayner@timesdispatch.com or (804) 649-6073.
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