Years ago, as a much younger man, I had the opportunity to interview the much older English socialist Tony Benn. We sat for an afternoon in the basement of his London home, lined with books and campaign posters, a montage to British 20th century political activism.
Looking back at his lengthy career, the erudite Benn quipped: “One thing you must understand about politics, young man, is that the young and the old have one thing in common: we are both bullied by the middle-aged.”
This expression has stayed with me. When seen from this perspective, policy is simple: the middle-aged set the agenda, feathering their retirement nests while the young pay on the basis they have time to make up their early losses and while the old, well, they pass away.
In the end, middle-aged concerns govern and the society adjusts to their short-term trepidations, whatever the cost.
The Department of Finance’s Future Forty report bears out Benn’s succinct generational interoperation of politics.
This is obviously a big piece of economic research, but it can be summe
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