Author Analyzes Economic Meltdown

If you’re one of the many baby boomers wondering what happened to the concept of comfortable retirement, Norwalk author Roger Chiocchi can explain it for you.  His book “Baby Boomer Bust? How the generation of promise became the generation of panic” looks at the 2008/2009 economic meltdown from a variety of perspectives – economic, political, and, perhaps most compellingly, personal.

“Last March, when the Dow hit close to 6500, I got up the courage to look at my 401K,” says Roger, a lifelong advertising professional who spent years working with clients like Sears, Bell Atlantic and Advil.

“I was kind of devastated. No one wants their nest egg cut in half. Then I thought, if this is hurting me and I’m fairly well off, how it is affecting other people?”

Determined to find out, Roger conducted an online survey of 150 boomers. He asked how the changing economy affected their lifestyles, spending habits and goals, as well as whom they thought was to blame for the crisis. The book is comprised of that study’s findings, stories about individual people hit by the downturn, and Roger’s opinions on why everything went bust to begin with.

The way he sees it, there are four major reasons why his generation is in a panic. First, there’s the unemployment trap set for the middle class by a boom/bust economy. Second on his list is the lack of defined benefit pension programs.

“All of our parents had benefits and pensions, now only 20 percent of people have them,” he says.

“Another problem is that the U.S. has the most highly skewed distribution of wealth of all the industrialized countries,” he continues. This level of inequality adds to the crime rate in our country as well. “People feel disenfranchised, like our rules don’t work for them,” he says.

Lastly, Roger points to skyrocketing divorce rates. “I’m not saying people shouldn’t get divorced!” he says. “But you’re usually taking one economically viable household and turning it into two, with either one or both of them operating at a deficit.”

He laughingly mentions a fact passed on to him by a local psychotherapist. “Apparently couples’ counseling went way up during the meltdown.”

Roger embraces the fact that his views are considered liberal for a former “suit” and Wharton Business School grad. “The other Wharton alumni call me a socialist,” he says.

Call him a socialist, but don’t forget to call him a man of many interests. He’s currently a partner at South Norwalk’s strategic branding and marketing communications agency Brandloft, and he’s also working on a sequel to his first book, a paranormal novel called “Mean Spirits.” Still, he may have found his métier in non-fiction. “It’s easier when you don’t have to make it up,” he says.

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