I am skeptical of any study that uses Italian tax records as an empirically sound data source. Additionally, Yglesias' writeup of the study is short on specifi

I am skeptical of any study that uses Italian tax records as an empirically sound data source. Additionally, Yglesias' writeup of the study is short on specifics. What was the number of people with a given surname in 1427, and in 2011? In other words, is it possible that "Family A" was a big, wealthy and powerful family in the 1400's, but today there are only four people with that last name in Firenze and three of them happen to be in high-wage jobs? Are income figures median, or mean? Neither Valentino nor Vasco Rossi lives in Firenze, but if they did, they'd be skewing the mean income score for the Rossi name. Are we sure the people today with a given surname are the actual descendants of people in 1427? And, if they are, what do we know about whether the family has stayed wealthy in the years between then and now? All in all, this article seems more clickbait-y than insightful.