The Future Has Seen Better Days

As the Pew Research Center notes in the title of a new report, “Once Again, the Future Ain’t What It Used to Be.” Too true. People’s outlook on the future is often a function of the way they see current conditions. Amid the tribulations of the current decade, the idea that today’s children will inhabit a better world when they grow up has fallen on hard times (see chart below). Polling in the late ’90s—amid the stock market boom and before 9/11—found a majority of respondents forecasting a brighter future for kids growing up.