There has been a long-running decline in social mobility in the UK, dating back to the 1970s. This has combined … Continue reading “Britain’s housing crisis blocks geographic mobility and social mobility”

When major political parties agree on an issue, worry. For the past decade, “social mobility” – the movement of individuals … Continue reading “Cherry-picked evidence does not justify costly policies to boost “social mobility””

The general secretary of the Trade Union Congress, Frances O’Grady, said last year that Britain is a country in which … Continue reading “The rich get richer and the poor get… richer.”

On Monday, I appeared on Channel 4’s ‘How Rich Are You’ programme to discuss solutions to the ‘problem’ of inequality. … Continue reading “Ten mistakes that permeated the Channel 4 ‘How Rich Are You?’ programme on inequality (part 2)”

Few economic issues are discussed in the media with such gloom and inaccuracy as social mobility. There is a pervasive … Continue reading “Room at the top”

In this interview, Professor Richard Epstein assesses the impact of Thomas Piketty’s recent bestseller, Capitalism in the Twenty-First Century, on … Continue reading “Richard Epstein interview on Piketty”

Note: the graphs in this post display correlations only. They are used to discuss relationships some argue exist, not to … Continue reading “Do equality and high average school performance really go hand in hand?”

So Alan Milburn is back, allegedly to deal with ‘social mobility’, no less. Here we have yet another example of … Continue reading “Social mobility’ and all that”

Today, in a response to a report suggesting that social mobility was improving, Chris Grayling, the Conservative Shadow Welfare minister … Continue reading “Poverty, mobility, inequality? Can somebody please tell us what they are talking about?”