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A lot of the arguments passionately advanced by Meredith Bagby in Rational Exuberance: The Influence of Generation X on the New American Economy, will infuriate (or at least baffle) those not born between the years 1965 and 1976. But that's beside the point. Bagby herself is a proud member of this maturing generation, and as an economist--as well as a regular on CNN's Financial News Network--she's developed strong opinions on the fiscal future of a population that reportedly believes more strongly in the current existence of UFOs than the long-term existence of Social Security. With the help of cutting-edge compatriots like pollster Kellyanne Fitzpatrick, presidential-speech writer Jeff Shesol, Wall Street Journal reporter Steve Frank, Cybergrrl marketing maven Aliza Sherman, and a host of other successful twentysomethings, Bagby looks into the political, social, educational, and occupational leanings of her peers with an eye toward the economic impacts that they're likely to have in coming years. Her insights into Gen-X thinking on employment and entrepreneurship, ads and the media that carry them, and consumer staples such as homes, cars, clothes, food, and drink, should prove intriguing whether you're on the inside or the outside of this up-and-coming generation. --Howard RothmanIn Rational Exuberance, renowned Gen X'er and economist Meredith Bagby examines the ways in which her generation, against the odds, is steering the economy in a new direction. Overeducated, underpaid, and carrying the burden from three previous generations of overspending, Generation X has inherited a hard reality. A few examples... * Generation X is the first in American history projected to earn less than its parents' generation. * For every dollar spent on children in 1997, five dollars were spent on the elderly. * Today's Social Security system is predicted to go bankrupt by 2030--just when Gen X reaches retirement age. Often ignored, however, are Gen X's creative influences on America's economy which range from bottom-line politics to flourishing entrepreneurism. Shunning the stereotypical "slacker " or "deadbeat " persona are key players in the media, financial world, and youth politics who speak in candid interviews about what makes this generation unique. This is the most comprehensive analysis of the next generation of American go-getters and the unique world they are shaping.
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