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Originally Posted by blankall
I've already stated my views on issues with the "great generational transfer". We've also seen that the average CPer is substantially better off than the average Canadian.
I honestly think what we're seeing is destruction of a fundamental part of our society, which is economic mobility. Maybe economic mobility was a bit of an illusion to begin with. The previous circumstances were clearly far from perfect. However, baby boomers gaining hundreds of thousand or millions from their property and transferring that to their spawn is going to lead to some serious problems. I agree that, going forward, housing may not be the best investment. But that does nothing to deal the massive amount inequality caused by what's already gone on, or in, in the case of Calgary, what's about to happen.
For example, we've talked about how most people don't have $160k saved up. For someone who's worked very hard to save up $50k, what happens when all of a sudden the neighbour has wealthy parents pass on and gift them $500k from a house they purchased for $50k. Buying power is instantly wiped out.
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This is clearly a major social inequality issue, whether or not it’s recognized as such. A $150k contribution towards a house vs 0 is a huge contributor to inequality.
With automation and the gig economy eating away at the tax base, governments are going to be looking for new sources of revenue. Intergenerational wealth transfers are an obvious target. And I expect a lot of people who make all the right noises about other injustices will quietly go about doing everything in their power to evade that instrument of addressing inequality.