Born Poor? Santa Fe economist Samuel Bowles says you better get used to it

Re:Born Poor? Santa Fe economist Samuel Bowles says you bet... by nazgulnarsil on Thursday February 04, 2010 @06:17PM (#1101972)

I stand by my statement. the world, on net, has more income mobility now than at any time in the past. everyday is pretty much the best day the world has ever seen from a net welfare standpoint.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Born Poor? Santa Fe economist Samuel Bowles says you bet... by gjm11 on Thursday February 04, 2010 @09:42PM (#1102493)

Would you care to present your evidence that the world has more income mobility now than at any time in the past?

(And, FWIW, I am still having grave difficulty believing that you really meant "the world" when you said "we".)

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Born Poor? Santa Fe economist Samuel Bowles says you bet... by eru on Thursday February 04, 2010 @08:18PM (#1102319)

For the whole world you may be right today. That why I put the question mark in my comment. (Lots of people here are from the US and assume everyone is.)

I do agree that measured by income the world has entered a golden age. But I do not know whether mobility in income quantiles is at its peak: You can have a lot of mobility at a very low level of income, too. And in the stone age people were probably more alike in income, so that quantiles were closer together and more easily shuffled just by random changes. (Not that this is a good or bad thing per se.)

[ Parent | on HN ]