Thomas Picketty, Willets in his book 'The Pinch' and others are busy stoking intergenerational envy. It is all a scheme to deprive older people of their hard earned and tax paid assets and cash and it works by setting generations against each other, a totally immoral and despicable aim.
My view is that governments want to asset-tax this money away from the oldies who have saved it so they can spend it on their own salries, pensions and projects. There is no other way to get hold of it as older people need to live and they also want to will the majority of their cash and assets to their own families.
I have told my own children not to be fooled by this 'intergenerational envy' malarky as, if the government taxes or in any other way, extracts their dear father's and my own money, they will not see a penny of it. Whereas, if it's left in our hands we will save every penny we can and leave it intact to them.
Money is best left to families to distribute downwards as it will be left to children trained in prudence and morality who will spend it wisely and well. Inheritors are bequeathed wisdom, discipline and advice as well as money and many parents tie up cash so it it is spent on proper investments like housing and education, not blown on bling.
Milton Friedman's famous, 'Four kinds of Spending' comes into this argument.
“There are four ways in which you can spend money. You can spend your own money on yourself. When you do that, why then you really watch out what you’re doing, and you try to get the most for your money. Then you can spend your own money on somebody else. For example, I buy a birthday present for someone. Well, then I’m not so careful about the content of the present, but I’m very careful about the cost. Then, I can spend somebody else’s money on myself. And if I spend somebody else’s money on myself, then I’m sure going to have a good lunch! Finally, I can spend somebody else’s money on somebody else. And if I spend somebody else’s money on somebody else, I’m not concerned about how much it is, and I’m not concerned about what I get. And that’s government. And that’s close to 40% of our national income.”
Milton Friedman, in a Fox News interview in May 2004"
In this case, when children inherit their parents' money it becomes the first type of personal spending which is prudent. When governments asset tax ithey spend the money of others and it is spent in the least prudent manner.