Income Mobility

The topic of the day seems to be the new study on income mobility:

• Upward Mobility Has Not Declined, Study Says - NYTimes.com
• Stable Income Mobility: Not a Muddle At All - Jared Bernstein
• Did We Need a Landmark Study to Tell Us Mobility Didn't Decrease Between 1990 and 2007? - Dean Baker
• Upward mobility in the United States is not declining as many citizens think - Tyler Cowen
• What If Social Mobility Is Never High Anywhere? - Matthew Yglesias

My take is similar to Kevin Drum's, who manages to separate the level of mobility (very low) to the rate of change (one study, the latest, says mobility is unchanged):

• Income Mobility in the US is Terrible, But at Least It's Not Getting Worse - Kevin Drum

This response emphasizes the geographic variation -- where you are born appears to matter quite a bit:

• Here’s to wishing you the best of luck in the birth lottery—you’re going to need it - Heather Boushey