The Boomers are Still in Charge

So, don’t expect too much to change in DC.  Obama may be a Gen X, and many Boomers are retiring from working life, but don’t start thinking that they don’t control much of American culture. They do.

Let’s take a quick look at the numbers.

Political leadership is still mostly held by Boomers.  The 111^th congress was (source):

63.77 percent Boomer

19.66 percent Silent

15.91 percent Gen X

.85 percent GI

Don't have numbers on the 112th congress but no significant demographic change occurred.

I spent the afternoon today going through company profile pages for the SP400, just for fun.

Of the 381 companies currently in the index (AMEX: ^MID), the CEOs (or the person mostly likely to be in change) break down as:

297 Boomers

65 Gen X

18 Silent

1 crusty old GI (the Tootsie Roll Company).

So, of our American midcap companies, 78 percent are run by Boomers, and most were in their 50s.

Assumptions:

Strauss and Howe dates for generations.

No concern for cuspers and there were plenty that could be cuspers.

Some companies didn’t have CEOs so I used the person most likely to be in charge; also, some cos have chairmen who seem to hang on but I used the CEO.

I used Yahoo Finance & assumed info was correct and up to date.

The Crisis Escalates

Blogging has been slow due to my being under the weather and another professional writing obligation to finish.

I’ve been following the protests these last few weeks. Fascinating how fast change can come.  Yes, there is evidence for both gradual and punctuated evolutionary change.

First there was Tunisia.  It's Jasmine revolution is an Awakening.  The nation got its independence in 1957, and that started a cultural high. Now, we see the result of an awakening, where a grass roots rebellion overthrows a corrupt regime. I guess the next step in the analysis is to determine when the awakening began; the revolution is the end result.  They will now enter into an era of cultural conflict.

Today we have Egypt, Jordan and Albania.  The Arabic ones seem to be awakenings.  Next, maybe Syria and the Suez Canal

Meanwhile, our US capital markets are rebelling too, against the PPT (plunge protection team).

The crisis climax will be here sooner than you think.  Much food and water are needed.  Awakenings in North Africa will escalate the secular crises elsewhere.

Good luck.