There’s a major tension between the accumulation of “generational wealth” and altruism. While many defend the practice as family responsibility, I think the evidence suggests it often goes far beyond reasonable provision for descendants.
To clarify: I support what might be called “generational health” – ensuring one’s children have the education, resources, and opportunities needed for flourishing lives. For families in poverty, this basic security represents a moral imperative and path to social mobility.
However, distinct from this is the creation of persistent family dynasties, where wealth concentration compounds across generations, often producing negative externalities for broader society. This pattern extends beyond the ultra-wealthy into the professional and upper-middle classes, where substantial assets transfer intergenerationally with minimal philanthropic diversion.
Historically, institutions like the Catholic Church provided an alternative model, successfully diverting significant wealth from pure dynastic succession. Despite its later institutional corruption, this represents an interesting counter-example to the default pattern of concentrated inheritance. Before (ancient Rome) and after (contemporary wealthy families), the norm seems to be more of “keep it all for one’s descendants.”
Contemporary wealthy individuals typically contribute a surprisingly small percentage of their assets (often below 5%) to genuinely altruistic causes, despite evidence that such giving could address pressing national and global problems. And critically, most wait until death rather than deploying capital when it could have immediate positive impact.
I’m sure that many of my friends and colleagues will contribute to this. As in, I expect some of them to store large amounts of capital (easily $3M+) until they die, promise basically all of it to their kids, and contribute very little of it (<10%) to important charitable/altruistic/cooperative causes.
There’s a major tension between the accumulation of “generational wealth” and altruism. While many defend the practice as family responsibility, I think the evidence suggests it often goes far beyond reasonable provision for descendants.
To clarify: I support what might be called “generational health” – ensuring one’s children have the education, resources, and opportunities needed for flourishing lives. For families in poverty, this basic security represents a moral imperative and path to social mobility.
However, distinct from this is the creation of persistent family dynasties, where wealth concentration compounds across generations, often producing negative externalities for broader society. This pattern extends beyond the ultra-wealthy into the professional and upper-middle classes, where substantial assets transfer intergenerationally with minimal philanthropic diversion.
Historically, institutions like the Catholic Church provided an alternative model, successfully diverting significant wealth from pure dynastic succession. Despite its later institutional corruption, this represents an interesting counter-example to the default pattern of concentrated inheritance. Before (ancient Rome) and after (contemporary wealthy families), the norm seems to be more of “keep it all for one’s descendants.”
Contemporary wealthy individuals typically contribute a surprisingly small percentage of their assets (often below 5%) to genuinely altruistic causes, despite evidence that such giving could address pressing national and global problems. And critically, most wait until death rather than deploying capital when it could have immediate positive impact.
I’m sure that many of my friends and colleagues will contribute to this. As in, I expect some of them to store large amounts of capital (easily $3M+) until they die, promise basically all of it to their kids, and contribute very little of it (<10%) to important charitable/altruistic/cooperative causes.