Economics Professor: There Is No American Dream

[The]

http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2014/11/ ... can-dream/

DAVIS (CBS13) — A UC Davis economics professor has determined there is no American Dream.

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.”

Clark crunched the numbers in the U.S. from the past 100 years. His data shows the so-called American Dream—where hard work leads to more opportunities—is an illusion in the United States, and that social mobility here is no different than in the rest of the world.

“The status of your children, your grandchildren, your great grandchildren your great-great grandchildren will be quite closely related to your average status now,” he said.

UC Davis students CBS13 spoke to dismissed the findings.

“The parents’ wealth has an effect on ones life but it’s not the ultimate deciding factor,” Andy Kim said.

Clark has heard the naysayers before.

“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.

Do you agree with this quack?

[lasttry]

Yes, but it is a somewhat misleading argument. The United States is a meritocracy, with high income inequality and a rotten life for people at the bottom. Sweden is also a meritocracy, but with much less income inequality and a much nicer life for people at the bottom.

Children of the middle-class and above in the United States are scared shitless of falling into the lower-class, so they instead of doing what they want with their life, they take the safe route, get a soul-sucking corporate job which pays well, and hence remain in the middle-class, and thus their children (grandchildren of the original wealthy parents) have all the advantages of a middle-class upbringing, and so those grandchildren also stay in the middle class.

In sweden, children of the middle-class and above are less scared of falling into the lower class, because life down there is not so miserable as in the United States. So you may have a slacker son of a wealthy doctor working as a gardener, and then the ambitious son of that gardeners going to free state universities to be educated as a doctor. This example sound unrealistic because ambitious people tend to have ambitious children, but let's suppose that gardener son was ambitious in some non-economic way. Maybe he was ambitious about travel.

In other words, the lack of mobility in the United States is largely because lots of people are doing things they hate just so they won't fall to a lower social class, rather than because there are impediments to people rising/falling in social class.

If my analysis is correct (I don't have any evidence that it is), then it should be obvious that the United States system is one designed to make lots of people really miserable.

[Ghost]

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[jamesbond]

If my analysis is correct (I don't have any evidence that it is), then it should be obvious that the United States system is one designed to make lots of people really miserable.

90% of americans hate their jobs and their personal lives are pretty crappy as well.

10% of married couples in the US NEVER have sex and about 25% have sex about once a month.

No wonder why there are so many miserable people in the US, they hate their jobs and they are not getting laid either!

[suprmon]

Of course the american status quo has to promote this falsehood of the Horatio Algers "rags-to-riches" myth! They know that if the general populace knew the truth, then the hoi polloi wouldn't be inspired to keep doing the "well-to-do's" dirty, and dangerous work; like back breaking work, or dead-end jobs and fighting their useless wars!!!

[Paloaltoguy]

Yes, but it is a somewhat misleading argument. The United States is a meritocracy, with high income inequality and a rotten life for people at the bottom. Sweden is also a meritocracy, but with much less income inequality and a much nicer life for people at the bottom.

Children of the middle-class and above in the United States are scared shitless of falling into the lower-class, so they instead of doing what they want with their life, they take the safe route, get a soul-sucking corporate job which pays well, and hence remain in the middle-class, and thus their children (grandchildren of the original wealthy parents) have all the advantages of a middle-class upbringing, and so those grandchildren also stay in the middle class.

In sweden, children of the middle-class and above are less scared of falling into the lower class, because life down there is not so miserable as in the United States. So you may have a slacker son of a wealthy doctor working as a gardener, and then the ambitious son of that gardeners going to free state universities to be educated as a doctor. This example sound unrealistic because ambitious people tend to have ambitious children, but let's suppose that gardener son was ambitious in some non-economic way. Maybe he was ambitious about travel.

In other words, the lack of mobility in the United States is largely because lots of people are doing things they hate just so they won't fall to a lower social class, rather than because there are impediments to people rising/falling in social class.

If my analysis is correct (I don't have any evidence that it is), then it should be obvious that the United States system is one designed to make lots of people really miserable.

Not bad.