4/8 Event: Boomerang: Wealth, Retirement, and the Generational Divide

There are now more senior Americans than there are children, and the older population is slated to continue to grow in size and influence. Already, older Americans own more than one-third of all homes, hold around half of all wealth, and collect a clear majority of all government benefits. And even as seniors have the lowest poverty rate of any age group, the wealthiest retired couples can now collect $100,000 a year in Social Security benefits.

At the same time, child poverty remains stubbornly high, job growth has stagnated, housing costs have exploded, the Social Security and Medicare trust funds are hurtling toward insolvency, and the United States is sinking deeper into debt.

On Wednesday, April 8, 2026, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget hosted "Boomerang: Wealth, Retirement, and the Generational Divide," an in-person conversation with The Wall Street Journal's Greg Ip, the Committee's Marc Goldwein, Prime Mover Institute's Russ Greene, and Slow Boring's Matthew Yglesias on this growing generational divide. These experts discussed their views on  Total Boomer Luxury Communism, rising social spending on seniors, the silver economy, and new solutions to address these challenges. Committee President Maya MacGuineas offered opening remarks, and the event concluded with a cocktail reception.

The event was carried live on the C-SPAN network; the livestream of the event can be found here and below.