美国年轻人沦为非理性乐观主义的受害者

    因此，这位亿万富豪认为，年轻人应该自己去创造就业机会。但许多小企业正发现很难在今天的市场上获得融资。各大银行不愿意在没有重要抵押品的情况下提供贷款。联邦存款保险公司（the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation）发布的数据显示，去年，向年营收规模不超过100万美元的小企业提供的贷款数额仅增加了不到半个百分点。

    在这方面以及许多其他方面，这位亿万富豪的儿子都拥有一个优势：那就是他是一位亿万富豪的儿子。

    据《精神水平:为什么平等造就更强大的社会》（The Spirit Level: Why Equality Is Better for Everyone）作者理查德•威尔金森所说，与其他领先经济体相比，目前美国父母收入与子女收入之间存在更为直接的相关关系。

    如果不是出生于一个较高阶层的家庭，美国年轻人现在比以往任何时候都更难在经济阶梯往上爬。皮尤研究中心（the Pew Research Center）发布的报告显示，由35岁以下成年人为户主的美国典型家庭的资产净值现在与1984年同年龄户主家庭相比减少了68％，而在中产阶层家庭长大的美国人当中，现在有三分之一在成年时已经跌出中产阶层。此外，由35岁以下成年人为户主的美国家庭当中有37％的资产净值为零，甚至小于零。

    我们为什么无法超越这些障碍呢？答案是政策。

    20世纪80年代以来实施的一系列政策有系统地切断了美国年轻成年人攀登经济阶梯的机会，其中包括减少教育补贴，有利于业主和投资者的税率，以及中等收入阶层的工资下滑。我们没有给予美国的经济增长和未来前景以足够的关注。相反，我们花费了大量的时间来为婴儿潮一代的退休买单，以及保护深蒂固的游说团体。金融危机进一步强化了这些政策对千禧一代造成的影响——美国超富阶层和其他所有人之间已经形成一个根深蒂固的鸿沟。

    一位硅谷亿万富豪或许无法与这一切都有关系。别忘了，这位科技巨头属于婴儿潮一代，他们已经从运行更加良好的美国经济中获得了好处。他的孩子正搭乘这个成功的顺风车——他们这么做没错。但是，这位亿万富豪和大企业对美国千禧世代大多数年轻人所面临的困境忽略得越久，千禧世代对美国经济造成的拖累也就越久，而新科技带来的潜在增长也就会放慢脚步。最终，科技热潮能够取得多少成功，完全取决于Y世代能够取得多少成功。（财富中文网）

    瑞福•佛洛依莫维奇是一位作者，著有《美好生活的结束：金融危机如何威胁失落的一代——我们为此能做些什么》一书。

    译者：iDo98

    So, go and create your own job, the billionaire argues. But many small businesses are finding it hard to get financing in today's market. Banks are unwilling to lend without significant collateral. Data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation shows that loans to businesses for $1 million or less has increased by less than half a percentage point in the last year.

    On this front, and many others, the billionaire's son has the advantage of, well, being a billionaire's son.

    Parental income is more directly correlated with children's income in the U.S. than in any other leading economy, according to Richard Wilkinson, author of The Spirit Level: Why Equality Is Better for Everyone.

    It is harder than ever for young people to climb the economic ladder if they weren't born at a higher rung. The net worth of a typical household headed by an adult under the age of 35 is now 68% less than households headed by same-age counterparts in 1984, and a third of Americans raised in the middle class now fall out of it as adults, according to the Pew Research Center. Moreover, 37% of United States households led by someone under the age of 35 have a net worth of zero or less than zero.

    Why can't we surpass these hurdles? The answer is policy.

    Policies implemented since the 1980s have systematically cut off opportunities for young adults to move up the economic ladder, including reduced subsidies for education, tax rates that favor homeowners and investors, and declining middle-income salaries. We are not focusing enough on growth and the future. Instead, we are spending significant time on paying for Baby Boomers' retirement and protecting entrenched lobby groups. The financial crisis has made the impact of these policies -- an inveterate divide between the very rich and everyone else – even harsher for millennials.

    Maybe a Silicon Valley billionaire cannot relate to all of this. After all, this particular tech titan is a Baby Boomer who has benefited from a healthier economy. His children are riding off of that success, as they should. But the longer the billionaire and big business ignore the plight of most millennials in the U.S., the longer millennials will weigh on the economy and slow down the potential growth afforded by new technologies. In the end, the technology boom can only be as successful as Generation Y.

    Riva Froymovich is the author of End of The Good Life: How the Financial Crisis Threatens a Lost Generation -- and What We Can Do About It.