Common fallacy: personifying "the top N%" as if it were some mostly static set of people -- hard for anyone else to break in, rare that anyone falls out once th

Common fallacy: personifying "the top N%" as if it were some mostly static set of people -- hard for anyone else to break in, rare that anyone falls out once they make it in. The old class system anxiety. In reality, the further you get towards the top, the harder it gets to stay there: The composition of the very top income groups changed dramatically over time. Less than half (39 percent or 42 percent depending on the measure) of those in the top 1 percent in 1996 were still in the top 1 percent in 2005. Less than one-fourth of the individuals in the top 1/100th percent in 1996 remained in that group in 2005. [1] Here's another study with similar results across all income brackets. [2] None of the brackets are very stable; people move around quite a bit. Or, we could just sit around reading collections of personal anecdotes. Seriously, why is this article on the front page? [1] http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/206340741.html http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/206340741.... [2] http://books.google.com/books?id=lhiIyq8ylUMC&lpg=PA146&ots=52lc_0w_bL&dq=tomas%20sowell%20household%20income%20misleading&pg=PA147#v=onepage&q&f=false http://books.google.com/books?id=lhiIyq8ylUMC&lpg=PA146&...