Generational management
Introduction
Intergenerational equity in economic, psychological and sociological contexts is the idea of equity or justice between generations. The concept can be applied to equity in the dynamics between children, young people, adults and older adults. It can also be applied to equity between currently living generations and future generations.[1].
Conversations about intergenerational equity occur in several fields.[2] It is often discussed in public economics, especially with respect to transition economics,[3] social policy, and budgeting.[4] Many cite the United States' growing national debt as an example of intergenerational inequality, as future generations will bear the consequences. Intergenerational equity is also explored in environmental concerns,[5] including sustainable development,[6] and climate change. The continued depletion of natural resources that has occurred over the past century will likely be a significant burden on future generations. Intergenerational equity is also discussed with respect to standards of living, specifically regarding inequities in standards of living experienced by people of different ages and generations.[7][8][9] Issues of intergenerational equity also arise in the arenas of elder care and social justice.
Uses in public economy
History
Since the first debt issue recorded in Sumeria in 1796 BC. C.,[10] one of the sanctions for not paying a loan has been debt bondage. In some cases, this payment of financial debt with labor included the debtor's children, essentially condemning the debtor's family to perpetual slavery. About a millennium after written debt contracts were created, the concept of debt forgiveness appears in the Old Testament, called Jubilee (Leviticus 25), and in Greek law when Solon introduces the concept of sysacty. Both historical examples of debt forgiveness involved the freeing of children from slavery caused by their parents' debt.
While slavery is illegal in all countries today, North Korea has a policy called "Three Generations of Punishment"[11] which has been documented by Shin Dong-hyuk and used as an example of punishing children for parental mistakes. Stanley Druckenmiller and Geoffrey Canada have applied this concept, calling it "generational theft",[12] to the large increase in public debt that Baby Boomers left to their children.