Generations & investment (1/7): introduction

According to Wikipedia, a generation is a sociological concept used in sociodemography to designate a subpopulation whose members, having approximately the same age or having lived in the same historical period, share a certain number of practices and representations because of this same age or this same belonging to a period. The duration of a human generation generally corresponds to the renewal cycle of an adult population capable of reproducing, namely approximately 20 years.

The generations currently living side by side are (in chronological order) the silent generation (1925-1945), the baby boomers (1943-1959), the generation X (1959-1981), the Generation Y (1980-1999) and the new silent generation (1995-...). Note that this is a typology whose boundaries are vague both in terms of dates and characteristics. Certain cultural traits can be found among the "Y"than among the "X" or even among the "boomers". Likewise, individual differences are sometimes greater within a generation than between different generations. We can thus find a "Y" with an "old" mentality, just as a "boomer" younger in mind than ever...

Each generation has its habits, opinions and ways of acting. Today's retirees were at the head of the political and economic world of yesterday and their systems of thought have influenced us and still influence us to this day. Today's top managers also shape our way of life and they will be replaced in turn by a new generation of leaders with new representations. Each cohort leaves a different mark on society after its passage.

Today we begin a series of seven articles reviewing these generations, their influences on the economic and financial world, and the implications for us, the investors. Our next article in this series will be devoted to the silent generation (1925-1945), the oldest of the generations that still directly influences the world today.