> America has a social mobility problem. Children born in 1940 had a 90% chance of earning more than their parents. For children born in 1984, the odds were 50-50.
I think it's not unimportant to remember that Americas economic position in the world was dramatically different then. With the end of WWII, we had the Brenton Woods system, and the Marshall Plan. Those 2 systems drove economic growth, and placed America in the center of it. It was an unprecentented period of economic development worldwide, but especially so for America. The tech boom drove quite a bit of growth too, but it was narrower, and not in the same level of magnitude.
The point is, 1944 - 1991 is a HIGHLY unusual economic state, and it's not reasonable to expect that the mobility that existed then should still exist today.
I think it's not unimportant to remember that Americas economic position in the world was dramatically different then. With the end of WWII, we had the Brenton Woods system, and the Marshall Plan. Those 2 systems drove economic growth, and placed America in the center of it. It was an unprecentented period of economic development worldwide, but especially so for America. The tech boom drove quite a bit of growth too, but it was narrower, and not in the same level of magnitude.
The point is, 1944 - 1991 is a HIGHLY unusual economic state, and it's not reasonable to expect that the mobility that existed then should still exist today.