9/30/2013: Richard Reeves explains how to increase economic mobility, in the NY Times:
It is well known that in the United States, income distribution has a “sticky floor.” Two-fifths of children born into the poorest fifth of households remain there as adults.
But it is sticky at the top, too: the same odds apply to those born into the richest fifth.
It is a stubborn mathematical fact that the top fifth of the income distribution can accommodate only 20 percent of the population. If we want more poor kids climbing the ladder of relative mobility, we need more rich kids sliding down the chutes.
But we need their money!