BTW, I think the US will be far less different from the modern US than people think, at least culturally and politically (though to the left socially, as boomers die off).
Weren't the boomers supposed to be the more left-leaning group? You know, they were hippies. What happened to that, and how do we know that the U.S., with a young generation that is probably less liberal than the boomers, will become more liberal by 2050?
I'm pretty sure the millenials are more liberal than the Boomers, especially on economic issues (see also ~60% support Obamacare). Remember that the radical hippies were always a minority of a minority within that generation. The only way in which society was really transformed to the left in the 1960's was on sexual and gender issues. We've actually moved to the right on economics since the 1950's. It's unclear whether the millenials will be a liberal generation or a libertarian generation, but they definitely don't have many conservative tendencies. There is definitely a reaction against religious fundamentalism and unparalleled support for gay rights in the youth.
