In the US economy, since the beginning of modern economic growth patterns in the early 19th century, the annual average growth has reached nearly 2%per year (as mentioned here). It will be a special reversal of property that this process stops and overturns yourself. But according to polling data, I think about 75%of Americans will be worse than their parents if they grow up today.
It is believed that not only the United States but also the world’s high -income countries and many intermediate income states will be worse than their parents if the majority of countries grow up. Marta Doroszczyk compiles some polling data for short articles about “generational interests”. In the March issue of 2025 Finance and development In IMF. Exemplary pictures are as follows.
What to make with this?
1) Pauling data is hardly interpreted. When I think many people ask about the economic outlook for the long -term and the next generation, they tend to respond according to intermediate operations or short -term concerns, and perhaps not only economic problems. In my opinion, few people have found a growth statistics per capita before answering recently.
2) It is not difficult to understand why the Japanese people, which have grown slowly since the early 1990s, or the Greek economy have been struggling through a single economic crisis for 10 years.
3) However, even this type of problem and pattern is formally mentioned. There is a wide range of economic pessimism that goes beyond the details of a single country.
4) In 2019, the OECD wrote a report on what it means “middle class”. The central theme of this report is that in many countries, the “middle class” means that it is possible to access consumption in the three main areas of spending on housing, health care and higher education. In many countries, the price rises rapidly.
5) It is interesting to consider some of the optimistic countries in India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Israel, the Philippines and Poland.
6) If someone decides to be pessimistic, it can be difficult to say they in them. But pessimism affects politics. If the future generation is actually worse, we are in the Zero Island or a negative system, and the only way to benefit some groups or seek goals such as environmental protection is to cause equal losses to other groups. The basic politics of the environment will be full of bitter taste and doubt. In the US political context and perhaps European contexts, it feels like there is room for optimism and abundance, but it must be supported by the actual public and private investment, achievement and observable progress.
