The Economy, Some Thoughts.

If recent poles are to be believed, the level of tolerance that contemporary Americans show for economic inequality is relatively high. Perhaps because it is now less understood that Americas economic model is not the most successful on earth. According the The Economist,

“Over 70% of Americans support the abolition of the estate tax (inheritance tax), even though only one household in 100 pays it. Americans tend to blame their woes not on rich compatriots but on poor foreigners” (Economist).

This is in spite of the growing gap between rich and poor in the last quarter century, Americans continue to voice faith in the aphorisms of the American Dream as they attempt to “pull themselves up by the bootstraps,” and “make it.”

The construct of the “American Dream” promotes the belief that any person who is willing to work hard and “follow the rules” is almost guaranteed entry into (at the very least) the middle class. But while there is always an element of intention with a person escaping poverty, the statistics show that areas favoring upward mobility are distinguished from those with unfavorable climates. According to the Research on Economic Inequality,

“In the United States almost one-half of the children born to low-income parents become low- income adults. This is an extreme case, but the fraction is also high in the United Kingdom at four in ten, and Canada where about one-third of low-income children do not escape low income in adulthood” (Miles Corak, 2006, 13 (1), 143-188)

And, unless one believes Americans are by nature less thrifty or clever than their Canadian neighbors, it would stand to reason that the economic environment of the U.S. is less conducive to upward mobility. As the Economist put it recently, if one wants to enjoy economic success in America, he must first, "pick the right parents."