On Asa’s Info Diet this month, I want to highlight Scott Galloway–one of the smartest people around when it comes to giving young people advice about the world. Galloway is adamant on the need for American society to reorient itself: whether politically, financially, or socially, in order to uplift young people. Galloway interviewed one of my personal favorite experts, Fareed Zakaria, a journalist and political commentator in the field of American Foreign Policy who you might know from watching CNN. 

In “The Collapse of American Virtue,” Zakaria and Galloway highlight this exact decline, explaining how America needs to rebuild its relationships abroad and with itself. However, I believe America first needs to reorient its relationship with its youth, an idea which Zakaria conveyed.  “If there was one economic or social policy magic wand test that you could immediately implement in the United States, what would it be?” Galloway asked. 

Zakaria responded with “In some significant way, provide young people with capital.” Not only do I find this idea incredibly compelling, I also think this is the thought process we must go through when making policy. 

Policies oriented towards younger generations could look like giving young people capital to invest in the housing market, which is arguably the gateway to American prosperity. Or, it could look like Child Tax Credit, which reduces the cost of raising a family. It could also look like teaching financial literacy so young people invest in markets. Part of why older generations accumulated so much wealth is they have the advantage of investing in the stock market that has experienced unprecedented growth over the past 20 years. 

It’s no secret that there is a tremendous wealth gap between younger and older Americans, which is also alluded to by the wide age gap in American politics. When I say “old”, I mostly mean Boomers and older. “Young” refers to millennials and younger. Boomers are the most reliable voters, and thus our politicians are older because they serve the needs of older generations. Chances are that we will never have a President from Generation X, as boomers have faded straight into millennials. We have gotten to the point where elected officials reside in nursing homes on a government salary, and at any given time, more than five congressional representatives are absent due to health complications that come with age. This is completely unacceptable and frankly, it has faded away with the news cycle since former President Biden stepped down in the summer of 2024. When we think about this age gap in terms of policy, older folks vote for politicians of their age, who further their interests. The result of this is the following: 

Policies aimed towards young people, such as Child Tax Credit which provides tax incentives for raising children and for young people to start families, is a hot-button policy issue that gets killed in Congress.  

Meanwhile, policies aimed towards older people, such as the Social Security Cost of Living Adjustment (or COLA), are passed nearly unanimously. 

Galloway put it best: America’s tax system is currently the largest transfer of wealth from young to old, ever. Not only are there said policy woes, there is an asset piece of this: Not only do Gen Z and millennial tax dollars fund an ageist system, but young people are left out of social mobility and easy access to capital. Older generations benefited from progressive policies, such as the New Deal, the GI Bill, and the FHA Loan program, all of which set in place generations of home ownership. Yet in the last several decades, the U.S. has not introduced any policy remotely as progressive to broaden access to capital for young people. The older you are, the more likely you are to own a home, and the more likely you are to have benefitted tremendously from the stock market. 

You can also consider higher education: What used to be a golden ticket to prosperity has now become a commodity, as the boomers on the trustee boards and endowments have made millions off limiting opportunity for younger generations. The government is not taking any meaningful steps to remedy this and put capital in the hands of young people. Thus, I call this “The Age of Assets”. 

So, as this interview with Zakaria and Galloway really got me thinking about this Age of Assets, I hope that you too can come to realize the inequalities facing our generations. More specifically, the pertinence of this issue for young people. What can we do to remedy this? One solution is to elect younger people to Congress. Our Massachusetts Senators are 79 and 76 years old, respectively. We need politicians who are willing to fight for our interests, not the solely interests of retirees. More importantly, we need progressive policy that levels the playing field. Policies that provide young people with assets to invest are crucial for upward financial mobility.