Wednesday, January 05, 2005

Economist: Meritocracy in America

Meritocracy in America is not as prevalent as you think. Via Andrew Sullivan (my own issue hasn't arrived yet).
There is also growing evidence that America is less socially mobile than many other rich countries. Mr Solon finds that the correlation between the incomes of fathers and sons is higher in the United States than in Germany, Sweden, Finland or Canada. Such cross-national comparisons are rife with problems: different studies use different methods and different definitions of social status. But Americans are clearly mistaken if they believe they live in the world's most mobile society.

UPDATE: Turns out David Brooks read it too.

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