[From article]
Gregory Clark is sharing his research
as a hard truth with no hope—whether or not you can get ahead in America is as predictable as any formula.In fact, he says, the formulas for social mobility in the United States show there’s nothing to dream about.
“America has no higher rate
of social mobility than medieval England, Or pre-industrial Sweden,” he
said. “That’s the most difficult part of talking about social mobility
is because it is shattering people s dreams.”[. . .]
“My students always argue with me, but I think the thing they find very hard to accept, is the idea that much of their lives can be predicted from their lineage and their ancestry,” he said.
Stuck in a social status is no American Dream—Clark says it’s the American reality.
“The good news is that this is coming from an economist, because economists are used to being unpopular, and so we are the right people to bear this message that the world is a limiting place,” he said.
There’s one caveat to the study, and that is for any one of us, there is always an exception to the rule.
Clarks’ study was published by the Council on Foreign Relations.
http://sacramento.cbslocal.
UC Davis Economics Professor: There Is No American Dream
November 26, 2014 11:44 PM
Steve Large
CBS News Sacramento CA
No comments:
Post a Comment