The Pinch: How the Baby Boomers Stole their Children's Future - and How They Can Give it Back
David Willetts
The Pinch: How the Baby Boomers Stole their Children's Future - and How They Can Give it Back
The baby boom of 1945-65 produced the biggest, richest generation that Britain has ever known. Today, at the peak of their power and wealth, baby boomers now run our country; by virtue of their sheer demographic power, they have fashioned the world around them in a way that meets all of their housing, healthcare and financial needs. David Willetts shows how the baby boomer generation has attained this position at the expense of their children. Social, cultural and economic provision has been made for the reigning section of society, whilst the needs of the next generation have taken a back seat. Willetts argues that if our political, economic and cultural leaders do not begin to discharge their obligations to the future, the young people of today will be taxed more, work longer hours for less money, have lower social mobility and live in a degraded environment in order to pay for their parents' quality of life.
3.7 out of 5 based on 9 reviews
|
Omniscore:
|
| Classification |
Non-fiction |
| Genre |
Society, Politics & Philosophy, Business, Finance & Law |
| Format |
Hardback |
| Pages |
288 |
| RRP |
£18.99 |
| Date of Publication |
February 2010 |
| ISBN |
978-1848872318 |
| Publisher |
Atlantic |
| |
The baby boom of 1945-65 produced the biggest, richest generation that Britain has ever known. Today, at the peak of their power and wealth, baby boomers now run our country; by virtue of their sheer demographic power, they have fashioned the world around them in a way that meets all of their housing, healthcare and financial needs. David Willetts shows how the baby boomer generation has attained this position at the expense of their children. Social, cultural and economic provision has been made for the reigning section of society, whilst the needs of the next generation have taken a back seat. Willetts argues that if our political, economic and cultural leaders do not begin to discharge their obligations to the future, the young people of today will be taxed more, work longer hours for less money, have lower social mobility and live in a degraded environment in order to pay for their parents' quality of life.
David Willetts: My solution to the age time-bomb (The Independent, 13/2/10)
Reviews
The Spectator
Matthew Parris
"...the response of some of Willetts’s reviewers — that his book is long on analysis and short on prescription — is wrong. Willetts’s proposals are no less evident for being implicit. No senior Tory colleague, not even Michael Gove, has gone further towards describing his political and moral compass. What does a compass do if not to point direction?"
28/02/2010
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The Observer
Richard Reeves
"Willetts does not quite succeed in proving this charge of intergenerational theft. But in marshalling his case he takes you on such a fascinating journey through British society that you do not feel remotely shortchanged... Most important, when it comes to social and economic research, Willetts really does know his stuff."
28/02/2010
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The Economist
The Economist
"…two things distinguish this book from other offerings. The first is the attempt to construct a logically compelling theory of self-interested altruism and reciprocity, enlisting anthropologists, Enlightenment philosophers and today’s game theorists to do so… The second reason to read this well-written book is the wealth of social detail that Mr Willetts, with his wonderful magpie mind, spreads before the reader."
11/02/2010
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The Daily Mail
Peter Oborne
"Willetts is a lucid writer who illustrates his compelling thesis with a host of skilfully gathered evidence. There is just one problem with this excellent book, and it stems from the fact that the author is a politician. No member of David Cameron's shadow cabinet dare spell out the drastic action that must be taken to confront the looming demographic catastrophe - especially not on the eve of an election. So the concluding chapter is weak."
28/02/2010
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The New Statesman
Jenni Russell
"Willetts's book is far more wide-ranging and absorbing than its subtitle suggests. It is full of lovely insights… Yet I was left frustrated. There is a good deal of radicalism implicit in what Willetts writes, and I wanted to know how far he is willing to follow his own arguments, and how far he will push them within his party."
28/02/2010
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The Scotsman
Andrew Neather
"David Willetts is stuck with the nickname "Two Brains" and this thoughtful book will do nothing to shed it. For the Tory MP for Havant and shadow minister for universities and skills constructs a clever and original argument, marshalling vast amounts of research data and policy wonkery. Yet his "Two Brains" tag has always carried the sense of being "too clever by half", of never having acquired the instinctive political skills needed in the Westminster bear pit. His career has foundered. Here he offers few concrete solutions, and inadvertently exposes the flimsiness of some of his own party's policies."
28/02/2010
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The Sunday Times
Dominic Lawson
"The Pinch is both a treasure trove of elegantly harvested statistics and a tremendous synthesis of social analyses… Unfortunately, there is an almost complete dearth of practical solutions offered within its elegantly written pages."
28/02/2010
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The Daily Telegraph
Jon Swaine
"Willetts sets out these looming problems in horrifying detail. Yet aside from a brave endorsement of progressively funded education vouchers, he fails to propose how they could be fixed. He clings to a Cameroon obsession with marriage and family as saviour."
28/02/2010
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The Guardian
Fiona Millar
"He is an engaging person and an original thinker in a world of identikit MPs, but his political agenda and personal beliefs prevent the book being as objective and candid as it should be… Does Willetts really believe that we can "nudge" a new social contract between citizens that will spill over into a willingness to care collectively for future generations, while there are such glaring disparities between the winners and losers...?"
28/02/2010
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