5 ms·

Those are income-based and the quoted generational figures look at mobility from poor to median, not median (or above median) to rich. I would like to see thes

Those are income-based and the quoted generational figures look at mobility from poor to median, not median (or above median) to rich. I would like to see these figures for wealth. I have a hard time believing it’s easier to climb from the top 20% to top 1% of wealth in any European country vs the US or China. Wealth is a more consequential measure of socioeconomic status than income anyway.

dukeyukey 3y ago
At a guess wealth is _probably_ quite a lot worse - average American wealth is very high (~ $551k), but the median American wealth is quite bad (~ 107k, on par with Spain or Italy. Whereas median British wealth is $151k and in Canada it's $131k. But once you remove sterotypes, what makes you think it's easier to climb to the top in America?
- procgen 3y ago
  I'd be interested to see a comparison of the median wealth by age bracket.
- opportune 3y ago
  You're still focusing on median which I think is a valid measure on its own but not wholly representative of mobility at all. I'm personally very biased, but I think social mobility is most important between upper-middle (usually the most educated and hard-working) and upper-classes because that's where the most value creation happens, and personally I think that it's much more motivating to have a chance to become very wealthy than it is to increase your income by $10k > But once you remove sterotypes, what makes you think it's easier to climb to the top in America? We have lower marginal income taxes, self-funded retirements, and proportionately less capital tied up in generational assets like buildings. My impression of the EU is that most of the upper class and upper-middle class are land/building/family business inheritors, whereas in the US equity in large businesses take a larger share of the upper/upper-middle class asssets.

5 ms·

Those are income-based and the quoted generational figures look at mobility from poor to median, not median (or above median) to rich. I would like to see thes

by opportune 3y ago

dukeyukey 3y ago
At a guess wealth is _probably_ quite a lot worse - average American wealth is very high (~ $551k), but the median American wealth is quite bad (~ 107k, on par with Spain or Italy. Whereas median British wealth is $151k and in Canada it's $131k. But once you remove sterotypes, what makes you think it's easier to climb to the top in America?
- procgen 3y ago
  I'd be interested to see a comparison of the median wealth by age bracket.
- opportune 3y ago
  You're still focusing on median which I think is a valid measure on its own but not wholly representative of mobility at all. I'm personally very biased, but I think social mobility is most important between upper-middle (usually the most educated and hard-working) and upper-classes because that's where the most value creation happens, and personally I think that it's much more motivating to have a chance to become very wealthy than it is to increase your income by $10k > But once you remove sterotypes, what makes you think it's easier to climb to the top in America? We have lower marginal income taxes, self-funded retirements, and proportionately less capital tied up in generational assets like buildings. My impression of the EU is that most of the upper class and upper-middle class are land/building/family business inheritors, whereas in the US equity in large businesses take a larger share of the upper/upper-middle class asssets.