International Comparisons of Economic Mobility
Freedom from the constraints of aristocratic society lured many of our ancestors to cross the ocean to the New World. European visitors such as Alexis de Tocqueville marveled at the economic dynamism and social mobility of American society in the first half of the nineteenth century. More recently, immigrants continue to cross our boundaries in search of the promise of the American Dream. Given this history, many Americans believe that the opportunities for moving up the economic ladder are greater in the United States than they are in other countries. But is this widely held assumption of greater economic mobility in the United States borne out by the evidence?
