Generation Debt [Hardcover]

At the age of 50, I have seen the deterioration of the job market over the past 25 years, to the point where there are very few jobs that can be obtained with a BA or BS degree that will not be outsourced. In addition, I have watched as companies sold out their employees for the bottom line and the almghty dollar. It has become nearly impossible to stay in a job for very long, which in turn makes it very hard to pay down student debt.

I currently have a child in high school and I watch with amazement as districts push more and more students into the college merry-go-round with little thought as to whether or not they will be able to handle the work, or even finish a degree. At the same time I have watched as programs that would be very useful to the majority of today's kids are cut because the world has become so focused on testing and keeping little "Johnny" up to speed when he should be held back.

An example is the auto shop programs from when I was in high school. You could leave high school and get a job working as an auto mechanic directly from school. The programs now don't have the financing to buy the computer technology needed for these kids to actualy work as mechanics, even though the vast majority of graduating students will never go to college and will need some type of vo-tech training before they can become employable.

As is pointed out in this book, maybe we should re-examine the needs and desires of todays students to see what classes will actually beneft them. Adding classes which will allow students to work directly from school would decrease their debt loading and it would free up college space, as well as help employers get emplyees with a good solid training in a field that they want to work in.

I am fortunate enough to live in a district that is looking in that direction and is trying to figure out what classes the kids of today need to become employable in a global economy without having to become mired in debt while obtaining a degree thay may never use.

While reading through this book I continually found myself thinking two things: she's probably correct, and she doesn't really know why.

Generation Debt is at its best when it emphasizes statistics and constant dollar comparisons. This is where it's easiest to see that young face financial challenges largely unknown and unpredicted by earlier generations. (In the interests of full disclosure, I should point out that I'm 22 and a fairly recent graduate.) Even if one doesn't accept that recent graduates are worse off per se, it's difficult not to feel that they don't have nearly as many financial certainties as their predecessors.

Where it fails is the solutions. Kamenetz clearly isn't a historian or an economist; even more problematic is her apparent failure to understand that this can and should limit her ability to suggest fixes to the current situation. She clearly considers conservative economics a failure, but what she writes about them reveals that she hasn't studied them very hard, or at any rate not very deeply. It's possible that they are indeed in large part responsible for the current situation, but as her evaluation of them never rises above the superficial, it's difficult to know how correct she is. Similarly, it would have been nice if she'd anticipated some of the possible downsides to the largely socialistic solutions she suggests. Kamenetz is clearly intelligent, but she doesn't seem to understand how serious intellectual debate works.

Overall it's hard not to feel like she's out of her league when discussing these issues, and I can't help but think that her editor would have done better to assign her a coauthor. Then we might have had a book equal to its thesis.

Generation Debt is a depressing, gloom and doom "analysis" of the current financial state of the Generation X/Y kids. A variety of topics are covered: student loan debt, jobs, federal programs, and family relationships. I'm a fan of finance and sociology books but what made this a difficult read for me was the continuous negative and whining narrative. Kamenetz, a young Yalie liberal, interviews numerous financially strapped students to document their many (self-inflicted) misfortunes. There are numerous stories of students who borrowed huge sums of money to attend admittedly charming private universities only to graduate with degrees that afforded them nothing but poor job prospects. I didn't see many mentions of the plight of engineering graduates, but plenty of those who attained humanities degrees. I mean, really, is it any surprise to anyone that someone with an English/Women's Studies major will fare worse in terms of job prospects than a chemical engineering major?

Kamenetz does adequately convey just how she and her peers think, which is perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the book. The kids she describes are financially illiterate, with not even the remotest understanding of the far-reaching impacts of their financial decisions. Naturally they embrace the material trappings of modern society (iPods anyone?) but are frustrated they can't meet their financial obligations. Has society really failed these kids? To a large extent, that's what Kamenetz is suggesting. To her, taxpayers are apparently unresponsive to the plight of these poor kids. Never mind that most of them should have chosen more viable majors, attended cheaper public universities or community colleges, worked the whole time they were attending, and avoided debt like the plague. But, oh dear, that would ruin the whole college experience, would it not? Here's a newsflash. A college education is not a constitutional right. It's not even a guarantee to a successful life. And it most certainly is not the responsibility of already oppressively burdened taxpayers to further subsidize not only poor financial decisions made by students, but lavish, unnecessary spending by university bureaucracies.

I happen to work in the IT industry in the Midwest alongside a number of representatives from Generation X/Y and they are vastly more successful than the people interviewed for this book. And many of these kids weren't computer science or engineering majors. They went to school to learn any number of disciplines but were able to apply their knowledge to IT. In a word, they adapted--a vital skill in an uncertain job market. Nearly all of them went to state schools, worked one or more jobs while attending school, continue to live frugally, work hard, and find ways to add value to the organization every day. And I'm certain that their careers will reward them for it.

Kamenetz did provide a couple of pointers on the importance of living on less than you make (gasp!), but most of her advice either promoted activism or called for more taxpayer dollars to subsidize humanities majors hell-bent on a high society lifestyle on meager incomes in tax hells like New York City. Apparently the biggest thing lost on Kamenetz and those she interviewed is just old-fashioned common sense. In that respect, some of the blame has to be fall on parents of these generations. This is what happens when you indulge your kids and shield them from financial realities. But I really can't expect this author, who was given a $130,000 education, to understand or to articulate this. If my kids grow up this clueless, I will be devastated. Even at their young age, they are learning about the evils of debt, the importance of a college education that imparts practical skills, and the importance of work--regardless of financial aid.

Indeed, life isn't fair, and it never will be. But it's not impossible to make good choices, both vocational and financial, and to do the best you can with the talents you develop. This is as true today as it ever was in this country. But those who are looking to improve their chances will not find this book enlightening. On the contrary, they will probably find additional reasons to continue their self-pity. For those who want to achieve big things, they will find ways to be smart, positive, reliable, and highly productive employees or entrepreneurs. They will pursue financial education, shun credit card debt, and always save a part of their earnings. That's really the secret that eludes the author. I've seen it work again and again. It's not rocket science. This is the benefit of life experience. But since Kamenetz is young, idealistic, and mired in the victim mentality, she never mentions it. And, in a nutshell, this is why the book will fail to ignite the kind of activism the author intends and the results she so desperately desires.

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