The Ladder of Success Elusive in Some Parts of the U.S.

Michael Krasny

Jul 23, 2013 at

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(sgale39/Flickr)

Geography plays a key role in income mobility, according to a new study which examined millions of earnings records. It’s much easier for a child to rise out of poverty in cities like Boston or Seattle than in Atlanta or Columbus. We’ll discuss the findings, and what role tax policies play in improving income mobility.

More: Executive Summary of the Study
More: In Climbing Income Ladder, Location Matters – NYTimes.com
More: The Economic Impacts of Tax Expenditures Evidence from Spatial Variation Across the U.S. – The full study at EqualityofOpportunity.org
More: A Child in Seattle Has a Much Better Chance of Escaping Poverty Than a Child in Atlanta – TheAtlantic.com

Guests:

Enrico Moretti, professor of economics at UC Berkeley and author of "The New Geography of Jobs"

Nathaniel Hendren, assistant professor of economics at Harvard University and co-author of the study, "The Economic Impacts of Tax Expenditures: Evidence from Spatial Variation Across the U.S."

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