I think, all things considered that I was probably born about the right time. As Gladys pointed out earlier, there were 3 recessions during the 70's, 80's and 90's and I too lived through them all but their impact on me was different to what it may have been had I been born a decade or two earlier. The 80's one was actually very good for me as I had a seasonal job as a teenager for 3 years and I was earning (for me at that time and age anyway) stacks of cash which I was saving and earning fantastic interest on. I wouldn't have wanted a mortgage at that time though, that's for sure! On the flip side to that, more recent years haven't been so kind to me financially so maybe if I had been born earlier, I may have had the mortgage paid off by now and could have maybe ridden the last downturn out without the impact it had on my business and my finances - who knows!
70's were great to be a kid, 80's was great as a teenager and 90's was great as a young adult so all in all, no regrets at all really. I'm not overly keen on the way the world is going in general these days however and I do wish for different times in that respect.