See: http://www.nyu.edu/econ/user/bisina/Chapter5_Sacerdote.pdf http://www.nyu.edu/econ/user/bisina/Chapter5_Sacerdote.pdf Excerpt: "Surely it would be difficul

See: http://www.nyu.edu/econ/user/bisina/Chapter5_Sacerdote.pdf http://www.nyu.edu/econ/user/bisina/Chapter5_Sacerdote.pdf Excerpt: "Surely it would be difficult to deny that genetic effects matter. Just look at how much more biological siblings resemble each other on education and income than do adoptive siblings." So maybe genetics is not the most important ingredient, but saying genetics is not relevant to this discussion is astounding. Smarter parents beget smarter kids -- that's not a controversial statement. IQ is heritable to a large extend. Smarter parents tend to be wealthier. (This is not true everywhere, but it is mostly true in the USA, the land of opportunity.) Smarter kids do better in college. That's not a controversial statement either.