Reply #124: People do NOT enter that world "all the time" [View All]

[davekriss]

"All the time" implies a probable event. It is highly improbable. The U.S. has less class mobility now than Europe. That means "less", not "none".

(Checking my "less class mobility than Europe", it turns out we have about the same mobility as the U.K., and less than northern Europe. I don't know how we fare against southern Europe. Peruse this site for more details: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/14/national/class/15MOBILITY-WEB.html?_r=1&oref=slogin )

BTW, my point is it is highly unlikely that anyone reading this will have to fret over the income levels we're talking about here. The 94% marginal tax rate referred to above applied to income above (in today's dollars) $4,000,000. What percentage of the U.S. population do you think earns over $4,000,000 per year? Certainly less than 0.5%, probably less than 0.1%. Given that there is a certain class-based inelasticity to incomes (see the NYT's site), what do you think the probability is that someone born into a family earning $30,000-$50,000 in today's dollars will end up earning $4 million? Much less than 0.1%, probably closer to 0.01% or less (much less).

So, to say earlier that it is not very likely that the poster above will have to worry about FDR-like top marginal rates is not "flat out wrong", it is common sense.

But, then, so many of us play powerball and the odds of winning that lottery are 155 million to 1. Go figure?