Slackonomics

Generation X in the Age of Creative Destruction

By: Lisa Chamberlain

Narrated by: Roxanne Hernandez

Here's why Gen Xers - waiting for Boomers to retire - have made the choices they have, and how their creativity can save us from economic ruin.

Generation X grew up in the greed-is-good 1980s, before the Great Middle-Class Squeeze and the roller coaster of economic insecurity and tech revolution began driving Xers' cultural trends, lifestyle choices, and sociological circumstances. And while some foresee a disastrous financial future for all but those at the very top of the pyramid, Slackonomics reveals how a generation forged in such destruction - with the creativity of apathetic slackers, damn-the-torpedoes daytraders, deficit-spending consumers, and permanent freelancers - can bring the economy back from the brink.

One part Freakonomics, one part Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, Lisa Chamberlain's debut is a must-listen for anyone interested in our nation's future as the Boomers begin handing over the reins to the Xers.©2009 Lisa Chamberlain (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Studded with insight into pop culture and today's turbulent society." (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

Great book

Lisa Chamberlain does an excellent job of getting to the heart of Gen X and explaining how it approaches work and life and why it is different than Boomers. She needs to update it for the most recent economic crisis...because a lot has changed since she published the book and Gen X is now poised to move into leadership positions.

Stop Slacking and Read

My wife and I were both born in 1969. We are firmly Generation X'ers. We've been active perpetrators and victims of the dot-com and housing boom and busts. Slackonomics might not be a great book - but it is a good enough book - and I recommend it to anyone born between 1965 and 1975. We are children of the divorce and internet revolution. The rise of the PC and the Web, the demise of the stable job or predictable career, and the erosion of middle-class wages.

Entertainment is way better then it was for us growing up in the 1970s - we have Netflix and premium cable. We spent maybe a million hours growing up as latch-key kids watching bad television (did I really watch re-runs of Hawaii Five-O after school each day?) - today our kids spend maybe as much time on YouTube and with their iPods. It was our generation that was supposed to ride the advantages of a baby bust - both more educated then any previous generation with a multitude of available jobs left opening by the retiring boomers. It didn't quite work out that way - we got the economic (bubbles, recessions) and social stocks without the jobs.

But we are lucky in that our priorities and aspirations are pointed towards our families and our creativity, as we have seen the dangers of relying on employers and institutions. Keep your expectations for analytical and economic analysis low, and enjoy hearing our story.

It’s an okay book

This is third book I’ve read or listened to about Gen x. It seems all Gen X books assume everyone is a liberal and sleeps around, does drugs. I could relate to some of the uncertainty, but book is not really something I could completely relate too. It’s also vulgar.