Episode 51: “OK Boomer” – Full Debate

The United States is on the brink of the largest wealth transfer in its history as aging boomers and traditionalists pass along financial assets estimated in excess of $68 trillion to their progeny. Further polarizing class and reinforcing unparalleled income inequality, this inheritance is expected to solidify millennials as the richest generation in human history. But perhaps only a few among them. As economists identify possible outcomes and wonder at the future ahead, skeptics can’t help but ask how much of an impact the transition can make if it is only from a handful of wealthy individuals to an even smaller one, however young?

And what of the world the youth inherits, one arguably on the brink of an unprecedented existential overhaul? How will Millennials, Gen Z, and those to come thereafter respect the wisdom of past generations, while learning from their mistakes? Now that they know better, can they do better? Will anything really change? Or will money continue to define and divine the course of America’s future, at least for those who have it?

In this podcast, I Am Interchange founder Tate Chamberlin and generationally diverse guests Kyle Mack, Sara Blessing, Sheyne Lieber, Pete Strom, and Susan Carstensen examine wealth, climate, society, politics, and the ties that inextricably bind generations to each other the future of life as we know it.

Photography by Ben Johnson