Scott Galloway got straight to the point in last year’s TED Talk. The New York University professor and author delivered a blistering presentation on what he calls a deliberate and dangerous transfer of wealth from young to old.
“The best two years of my life? COVID—more time with my kids, more time with Netflix, and the value of my stocks absolutely exploded,” Galloway said. But he then laid it all out: “Who has to pay for my prosperity? Not me. Future generations who will have to deal with an unprecedented level of debt.”
The Young Are Falling Behind
Galloway argued that today's young Americans are economically worse off than their parents were at the same age. For the first time in U.S. history, a 30-year-old is no longer doing better financially than their parents were at 30. “This is a breakdown in the fundamental agreement we have with any society, and it creates rage and shame,” he said.
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He pointed to rising home prices, skyrocketing tuition, and stagnant wages as symptoms of a system stacked against the young. “The purchasing power, the prosperity, is inversely correlated to age,” Galloway noted.
Minimum wage hasn't kept pace with productivity. If it had, it would be around $23 per hour today, he said. Meanwhile, the cost of an average home has surged from $290,000 to $420,000 in just a few years. Mortgage payments have doubled.
Higher Ed And Housing Rigged By The Wealthy
Galloway slammed elite universities for shrinking admissions while hoarding billion-dollar endowments. “We’re public servants, not f***ing Chanel bags,” he said, taking aim at higher ed's exclusivity. He argued that these institutions, like Harvard, have become hedge funds with classrooms.
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On housing, he criticized older, wealthier homeowners for restricting new development to protect their own property values. “The incumbents that own assets have weaponized government to make it very difficult for new entrants to ever get their own assets,” he said.
Social Security: A ‘Great Transfer of Wealth’
Galloway didn't mince words about Social Security either. “I’m not against Social Security, but the criteria should be if you need it, not whether you have a catheter,” he said, calling it a massive, ongoing redistribution from younger, struggling Americans to the wealthiest generation in history.
“Every year we transfer $1.4 trillion from a cohort that is increasingly doing less well to the cohort that is the wealthiest in the history of this planet,” he said.
Mental Health, Social Media And Despair
Beyond economics, Galloway also sounded the alarm on social media’s impact on youth mental health. Rates of depression, self-harm, and even deaths of despair are surging, he warned.
“I think [Meta Platforms CEO] Mark Zuckerberg has done more damage to young people in our nation while making more money than any person in history,” he said.
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What Needs To Change
Galloway proposed a range of policy fixes: boosting public college enrollment, raising the minimum wage, implementing a progressive tax system, breaking up Big Tech, and tying Social Security to financial need.
He called for universal pre-K, restoring the expanded child tax credit, income-based affirmative action, and national service. And he emphasized that these programs are possible. “We have the money, but we decide not to do it,” he said.
His bottom line: if Americans truly love their children, they must reverse the current economic direction.
“If you acknowledge that our kids are the most important thing in our lives… and if you believe we can actually fix these problems and we have the resources, then I posit the question: Do we love our children?” he said.
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