End of The Good Life: How the Financial Crisis Threatens a Lost Generation--And What We Can Do about It

by Riva Froymovich

Generation Y faces the bleakest economic landscape in modern history. The recent spikes in unemployment and debt, alongside a drop in marriage, home-buying, and childbearing rates, will have long-term consequences for a group that had no hand in creating the financial crisis. For these young adults, the American Dream is moving farther out of reach. Worse still, leaders aren't doing anything about it. Drawing on a wide range of reportage and interviews from across the United States, Europe, Asia, and Latin America, Riva Froymovich gives voice to those struggling in this new economy and explains the harm of shortsighted government policies—including initiatives to curb the national debt and key social programs. Through policy suggestions that focus on social enterprise and investment in economic growth, as well as inspiring stories from young entrepreneurs carving out their own way, End of The Good Life presents a deeply relevant read for Millennials, their baby boomer parents, and anyone who cares about the survival of this nation's most important tenet: the opportunity to get ahead.

Genres: Economics, Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published April 23, 2013

Reviews

[Kelvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Note: I received this book from the Goodreads giveaways.)

There are two great things about this book: it offers a historical background for the modern global recession and it isn't all doom and gloom.

I like to try to stay informed. And Ms Froymovich offers a great deal of information in her book. She serves it with a nice helping of stories about the people who are living through the global recession. She takes time to compare the current standards of living with the old standard, both in America and around the globe. While doing that, she offers a basic understanding of how markets work, what may (or has in some cases) cause recession, and offers still more basic advice on the changes we should make to curb the recession.

As a person who grew up in the lower bracket of the middle class, I lived a pretty simple life. It wasn't easy but it wasn't all that hard either. However, when I "grew up" and started to work for a living I noticed that a lot of the opportunity promised to me did not seem to be there. Sure, I have missed opportunities (or squandered them), but after reading this book I have seen that some of them have simply ceased to exist. I am very fortunate to have a good job, though not in my chosen field. This is another topic that Ms Froymovich explores. A lot of people are being pushed to educate themselves, but when they graduate they find that the supply outweighs the demand.

A lot of the stories presented in the book illustrate the gap between getting an education and securing gainful employment. Or, the rise of temporary and short-term contracts in some fields. One thing mentioned is the need to push for more vocational training. The stories add a human face to what could be a very slow statistical analysis. By adding the stories, she is able to illustrate her point without resorting to a pie chart or a graph of some sort. This makes the book immensely more readable. The history and mechanism of recession is important, how it affects the common man is more so. The overview of our current situation given in this book is a sober one. It is not hysterical nor is it muted. It seems to march right down the middle of the left/right line.

Which is another good thing about this book. It points out that politicians are horrible economists, and that they are not concerned with fixing financial problems but merely getting re-elected. I track with the assessment that the majority of young people today do not think that the government can fix the problem.

Ms Froymovich weaves her assessment of the current economic crisis with suggestions on how to make things better. She does not just report what is happening but suggests action. Had she simply presented the report of what was happening in the world today, it would have been a depressing read. But alongside the report, she points out ways that the blow can be softened or even avoided (for some countries). Thankfully, she gives numerous illustrations on how people are overcoming the financial crisis in their own creative ways. So it is not all doom and gloom. There is a good deal of hope found in the pages of this book as well.

All in all, after finishing this book I understand where we are and where I want to be. And I can take the steps to get there. As an economic amateur, I found this book most informative. Someone with more knowledge in economic theory may see much more than I, and I would suggest it to anyone interested in the current global economy and how it affects the standard of living for "generation y."

[J · Rating 2 out of 5]

Riya Froymovich offers some interesting insights as she describes the bleak economic plight of Gen-Y and Millenials. Chapters 6,7, 8 & the conclusion are amazing. Unfortunately, because "End of the Good Life" is actually a book, not limited to 140 characters, Froymovich's target audience won't likely even read it.

Unfortunately, Froymovich's generation seems to have missed a couple of points; the old adage popularized in a 90's country song that lamented, "you have to stand for something or you'll fall for anything." , and "when you don't vote, you relinquish your voice." Moreover, "all or nothing thinking" destroys the art of compromise. Now, far greater repercussions remain in store for Froymovich's generation, precisely because they petulantly decided to ride out our most recent presidential election.

Froymovich aptly points out that hers is the most educated generation in US history. However education does not necessarily equate with social and emotional intelligence. Moreover, it is clear that America's universities by and large have become diploma mills that are putting out fewer academics in favor of intellectual technicians; classical illiterate but technically proficient is what now passes for 'being educated'. And it certainly does not guarantee developed critical thinking skills.

Herodotus, the Greek Historian observed, "Soft lands breed soft men." Generationally speaking, he could not have been more precise. Following Yogi Berra's vein of logic that, "a nickel isn't worth a dime anymore," education isn't learning anymore.

Outrage + Complacency = no voice. A message the most educated generation in the history of the United States seems to have completely missed.

While Boomers sang along with Pink Floyd that, "We don't need no education", Putin banked on it. Our soft land's petulant privileged Boomers and their offspring delivered. Bigotry, mysogeny and religious intolerance became hue-and-cry, and Boomers who never really stood for anything jumped on the bandwagon because the privilege of easy money from low-skills were farmed off in the new world economy.

It's a fruit-tree thing, and the fruit never falls from the tree. Soft lands indeed.

I suppose this is what happens when an indulged generation protests against the indulged generation that it came from. Hopefully, Y-Generation and Millenials will come to understand what happens when they petulantly refuse to participate in the democratic process; no vote = no voice.

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could definitely relate to this book. Immigrant parents who had to work their way up, chasing the "American Dream" etc. It was a pimp slap in the face type of read; this is life take it and fix it.

*Won from Goodreads Giveaway*

[Douglas · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a great example of bad journalism -- cherrypicked "facts," anecdotes that masquerade as "evidence," interviews with people who made bad choices and then regretted them but still assign blame for those choices to "society," and "experts" we should listen to because their blogs are "widely followed." From the beginning of the book, an assumption is made that Americans have a birth right to government assistance, to be able to buy a home, to be promised a secure retirement, and to have job security throughout their careers. The "American Dream" as laid out by Froymovich is a fairly recent development in the history of the world, and I don't buy into the notion that success is defined by owning a home, getting married, having 2.5 kids, working moderately until retirement at age 65, and then living the good life in your golden years. Strangely, the author then describes how hard times are for young people in socialist European countries where austerity cuts make it hard to find jobs, and then to communist China, where young people are similarly having difficulty. Along the way, we hear from affected people, like a man who lost his visa and couldn't continue to work on Wall Street so he returned to Brazil and started a dotcom; or the man who went to high school and then went straight into the job market only to come to believe that a college degree would be useful, so he used his parents' Social Security payments to go back to school to get a degree -- in the not-so-practical field of History & Political Science! There are many more stories from individuals who made uninformed or even idiotic decisions (not their fault, though, according to the author).

I do agree in general with the economic principle that government spending reaps rewards for the entire economy, but if millenials want to have a voice in the government, they must participate in the process. But "solutions" that Fromovich advocates such as simply increasing college tuition government grants and loans, creating more job programs for young people, or simply to increase Federal spending, just aren't workable.

Any sympathy you might have for what "millenials" might be facing in their search for jobs and financial security will likely evaporate on a close reading of "End of the Good Life." Yes, life is hard. Yes, finding a job can be hard. But taking personal responsibility for your life is paramount, and the process of becoming an adult has never been easy for any generation. However, if the "Lost Generation" takes "End of the Good Life" as their roadmap to establishing a career, we can expect little more than whining and complaining from those affected by the financial crisis.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

Repetitive and limited. One of the main problems with the book is that the vast majority of the Gen Y interviewees are those who are involved with the Occupy Movement. The book is weaker because of this since such a small relative number of Gen Y are actually involved in this movement. The author should have used a wider population of GenY for her representative sample. As it is, the book is a good reflection of the financial crisis from the point of view of Gen Y activists, not from the broader population of all of Gen Y.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A thorough examination of the unfortunate job climate Generation Y has to cope with. Froymovich tells us how we got here and how bleak the future looks. It's really a pretty depressing read. I would give it 4 stars, however, the "what we can do about it" portion of the book is disappointingly brief.

I received this book through a first-reads giveaway.

[CJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview of the recession's effects on the world's youth and how cuts in governent spending on programs that help young adults acquire education and jobs stand to cause more damage to America's economy than the defecit (example: most of Europe.) Highly recommended reading.

[Jeni · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a good book. I am a fifty something professional in a field that had experienced its share of losses. I am a different generation, but agree with some of this book. The tax structure in the U.S. will have to change for much of this book to occur.

[Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book to help decide a path to ur financial future.