News Brief/Books

At last!

A well-known sociologist is heard from—-one who does not believe Baby Boomers will cause the ruin of future generations, saddled by the debts caused by their elders, staggering through life indentured to Medicare.

In “The Long Baby Boom,” Jeff Goldsmith, rejects the gloomers and doomers. With 30 years of experience in health policy, listening to him is worth the time.

Goldsmith writes that longer life spans can mean longer periods of healthy life and reduced dependence on others.

He also says that hospital and nursing home use will decline because Boomers will be healthier in the later years. He doesn’t suggest no one will need any of these services. He is saying that the snapshots of the future elderly may be out of focus. He does not say none will be needed.

The perky 60-is-the-new-4o upbeat view of age may be true for many but not all older Boomers. The end-of-the-world-boomers-are-consuming-all-our-resources view is not right either. This is a complex generation with many sub-groups in it.

Any time our society can see a major policy and demographic issue only one way, our society is not going to make good decisions.

This book is a more balanced view of Boomers, age and their impact.