Baby Boomers, Generation X and Social Cycles, Volume 1: North American Long-waves

Alan Greenspan:
"Creative destruction is an idea that was articulated by Harvard economist Joseph Schumpeter in 1942. ... I read Schumpeter in my twenties and always thought he was right ..." - The Age of Turbulence

Joseph Schumpeter wrote about Nikolai Kondratieff's long-waves in his book Business Cycles. Schumpeter's "gale of creative destruction" was inspired by Kondratieff's long-waves. Baby Boomers, Generation X and Social Cycles provides the latest and most comprehensive findings on Schumpeter's early observations and references innovations and economic changes to demographics. But the "gale of creative destruction" goes well beyond economics as the book Baby Boomers, Generation X and Social Cycles documents.

Baby Boomers, Generation X and Social Cycles, Volume 1: North American Long-waves, begins by examining the population of the United States and Canada from 1789 to the present and shows that at intervals, there have been baby booms other than the most recent one. Following each baby boom was baby bust, which in our time has been labeled as Generation X. The baby boom generation of the early 1900's discovered Jazz. The young reveled in the new music while the establishment frowned upon what it thought was nothing but noise. The women's movement rallied to get the vote and the Settlement-House movement was established to help the poor. The baby bust that came after 1920 is similar to that of Gen-X today.

The current Baby Boomers followed the same course of action starting in the 1950's with Rock 'n' Roll. As the young reveled, the establishment tried to find heavy-duty ear-plugs. This time, the women's movement revived and fought for equal rights while the War on Poverty was carried on by governments. When Baby Boomers got older, all these activities came to an end. At the same time, shifts in expenditures and lifestyles of Baby Boomers caused shifts in aggregate demand, producing the long-wave economic cycle. Baby Boomers became more than just consumers, but investors also and their accumulation of wealth began to move the stock market and the housing market upwards. Baby Boomers, Generation X and Social Cycles examines the history Popular Music, the Women's Movement, the YMCA, Politics, Investments, Health Care, Retirement, and many other histories and relates them to changes caused by shifts in the composition of the population in both the United States and Canada. Approximately 60 long term statistics are presented to show the impact of demographics on economic and social change.

---

All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

To Idealism, 2008-06-19
I enjoyed this book and the book taught me something. I learned a few things that I didn't know before. For me there was too much information about Canada and it's demographics. Don't get me wrong, I love Canada but I am more interested in the future demographics of the United States. As a former Oil Worker and current Peak Oil Researcher, I think demographics is the most important factor in Peak Oil. While everyone will focus on Oil Production and declining barrels, they most often never consider national or global demographis. Who will build our new energy world? You can't replace 78 million boomers with 48 million Gen Xer's. The Gen Xer's will already have careers and will be taking care of old parents and their young teen kids, or grandkids. It's my understanding that the generation after the Gen Xer's are about the same size or maybe a little smaller? What will happen when more than half of the country starts to retire? Who will replace the millions in the Oil & Gas Industry? Millions in Federal, State and Local Government? The Utility Industry? Nursing? This book is a good book but didn't answer these questions for me. Regards, Keith Renick, Peachtree City, Ga.


3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

A Mirror into the Future, 2007-08-09
Every once in a while, someone writes a book that radically alters our perspective about our life, our history, our beliefs and ourselves. This is one of those rare occasions. The author documents how each baby boom in the last 200 years, and he shows that there were five, has followed a similar set of activities. There are several examples that are currently unfolding before my eyes. The first is the high stock market volatility and a credit crunch that has moved beyond the borders of the U.S. and has so far affected French, German and Australian banks, just when the baby boomers are beginning to retire. It makes me wonder where this is all going to end up. Another is in 1944 religious education became a legislated requirement in the schools of Ontario. The Conservative government was re-elected by a landslide for backing the issue. In 1969 the Mackay Committee recommended that religious education be removed from schools because it did not reflect the principles of modern education. Some sixty years later, in the coming election of Oct. 2007, the Conservative Party of Ontario will be taking the platform of funding religious schools again. Oh - those rappers - like Sean Kingston - they've announced that they are not going to cuss anymore in their music. Is this eerily reminiscent of the past - or the future?

Price is accurate as of the date/time indicated. Prices and product availability are subject to change. Any price displayed on the Amazon website at the time of purchase will govern the sale of this product.