The Aftermath

The Last Days of the Baby Boom and the Future of Power in America

By: Philip Bump

Narrated by: Matthew Berry

A widely-read Washington Post columnist takes a deep dive into what the end of the baby boom means for American politics and economics.

Philip Bump, a reporter as adept with a graph as with a paragraph, is popular for his ability to distill vast amounts of data into accessible stories. THE AFTERMATH is a sweeping assessment of how the baby boom created modern America, and where power, wealth, and politics will shift as the boom ends. How much longer than we'd expected will Boomers control wealth? Will millennials get shortchanged for jobs and capital as Gen Z rises? What kind of pressure will Boomers exert on the health care system? How do generations and parties overlap? When will regional identity trump age or ethnic or racial identity? Who will the future GOP voter be, and how does that affect Democratic strategies? What does the Census get right, and terribly wrong? The questions are myriad, and Bump is here to fight speculation with fact.

Writing with a light hand and deft humor, Bump helps us navigate the flood of data in which our sense of the country now drowns. He fits numbers into a narrative about who we are (including what "we" really means), how we vote, where we live, what we buy—and what predictions we can make with any confidence. We know what will happen eventually to the baby boomers. What we don't know is how the boomer legacies might reshape the country one final time. The answers in this book will help us manage the historic disruption of the American state we are now experiencing.


* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF of charts from the book.

Only half is about boomers

The first half of the book was about the boomers. Some probably most people already know but there were definitely some topics that gave a new angle or interesting insight. Then it goes off on a tangent and starts to talk about the typical politicized topics - democracy, election, Trump, climate change, etc. and provides very little connection to the boomers. It was disappointing and very boring toward the end.

Effective use of statistical data.

A necessary and comprehensive review of baby boomers and their influence. Open ended on where we as a country and world go from here.

The book we need

Philip Bump finally put into words with GenXers have been feeling our entire lives. The boomers and their selfishness will be the end of the world as we know it.

Understanding My Generation

This book provided insight into Baby Boomers and their value system. It gave me the tools to understand the difference between my children, grandchildren. and myself. I loved the numbers! They provided objectify. The book was validating and eye opening. I loved it.

One of the finer books explaining life in America

I like the way the information in the book was put together. It was like a very easy puzzle. I would recommend that every high school in America require this book. I would say to the author he should be very proud of his body of work.