In two ways the article is wrong. First, the idea that our children will have easier lives than us. This is unsupported by recent history. Our lives haven't gotten easier over the last 20 to 30 years. In many ways they have gotten harder, just check out the Slate article on how healthcare has changed since Kennedy wrote his 1972 book. Why don't doctors do housecalls anymore? Is that not a real loss in the quality of life? Just because we can do things on our phone that we used to do on computers (and before that over the phone) does not mean we can do things easier or better. In fact, having to work through 10 levels of an inane automated answering service to do what a two minute conversation with a real person would have accomplished simply and in a satisfactory manner is one of the small ways in which our lives have become significantly worse, not better, over just the last 10 years. Sure, I like having a way to contact people wherever I am, but I hate the loss of peace that it has brought. And while I can happily turn off my phone, I can't stop the chap next to me from using it. Technological progress hasn't brought us easier and better lives per se. Just very different ones.

The second thing that is wrong is the assumption that our children will be richer than us, or at least that they will be better able to pay for our current living expenses. It is possible that GDP per person will continue to grow in real terms, but it is not guaranteed. More importantly, there is no guarantee that disposable income will grow, especially as taxes sooner or later have to go up to keep the increase in government debt manageable. Finally, as sure as technology has changed our lives, it has also made them more expensive. We have to buy things that have become necessities - such as computers and - to a lesser extent - smartphones. We also pay more for necessary things such as education and healthcare. That means that discretionary income (disposable income - necessities) is growing less than disposable income.

Bottom line: I may have more things than my parents had at my age, but most of them don't make my life better or easier than theirs. Two things that I am sure they had more of is free time and peace of mind.