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Topic: Americans overestimate social mobility in their country - page 2. (Read 199 times)

legendary
Activity: 3150
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When given pessimistic information about social mobility, left-wing respondents became even more likely to support economic redistribution. In contrast, right-wing respondents’ support for redistribution did not change.
This, it seems, is merely due to a well-known stubbornness of humans. It's not about this particular evidence being presented to people, but about the way people react in general when presented with evidence that supports or contradicts their opinions. There's a great video showing how it works.
So, to be honest, I don't think there's a reason to explain it based on the particular context of the matter of social mobility.
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With the consensus from only a year ago being that the united states had the largest growing demographic of millionaires and super wealthy. Which could suggest that it is, or was, easier to become wealthy in the USA than in any other nation on earth, only a few years ago in 2019, before COVID hit.
I don't think the article from 2018 actually supports the claim that it's easier to become wealthy in the US. In fact, if you look at the charts at the beginning of it, the actual probability of moving from bottom to top is 7.5% in the US, but around 11% in the UK and France, for example. Please correct me if I'm wrong here.
hero member
Activity: 1862
Merit: 830
The geographical location definately depends on the career that you are pursuing. For example:
1. If you are a doctor working in the US would be far more profitable than working in the UK. Working for the NHS does not have a lot of (+)'s for the people looking to be a millionaire but it also provides better security and stability.
2. US is capable of many things but certainly they are not capable of handling the new Covid strain and at the same time time, they are not able to provide proper care for the workers thus heading towards the great resignation.
I do think for me it's Europe for sure.
It's easier to find jobs and the diversity in the options available are also good. But US is not far behind, maybe they are just lagging by 1-2 points.
legendary
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I may be mistaken, but somehow it doesn't seem logical to generalize on this issue if we consider that the US has federal states that don't have identical rules when it comes to economic opportunities - just as we can't say in Europe that it is the same to succeed in Portugal, Germany or Bulgaria or Greece.

The reason why Americans no longer look at Europe as a continent where some human rights are greater is that the EU is increasingly copying American public systems, including health care. I used to have completely free health insurance, and for many years I have had to pay about the same insurance for about 10 EUR per month in order to be able to use the health system without any problems. There has also been an expansion of the private health sector, which is used by more and more people who can't wait several months to have a medical examination such as magnetic resonance imaging and a simple examination by a specialist.

I think that the US is still a country where people can succeed sooner (in the sense of becoming millionaires), because it seems to me that their system is much more open and dynamic than the European one. If someone asked me to name 5 European millionaires or billionaires, I would have big problems with that, but I would easily list at least three times as many who live in the US.
legendary
Activity: 2562
Merit: 1441
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But in Europe, climbing the ladder is easier than most people believe

HOW likely is someone to move up the economic ladder? A new study by Alberto Alesina, Stefanie Stantcheva and Edoardo Teso of Harvard University compares perceptions of social mobility in five countries—America, Britain, France, Italy and Sweden—against actual levels. It finds that Americans tend to be optimistic, while Europeans tend to be too pessimistic. An American born to a household in the bottom 20% of earnings, for instance, only has a 7.8% chance of reaching the top 20% when they grow up. Americans surveyed thought the probability was 11.7%.

Politically left-leaning respondents are naturally more doubtful about the scale of social mobility, and are more likely to support redistributive government policies, than conservative ones. But Mr Alesina and his colleagues also find that people of different political stripes also respond differently to new information. When given pessimistic information about social mobility, left-wing respondents became even more likely to support economic redistribution. In contrast, right-wing respondents’ support for redistribution did not change. Perhaps, the authors suggest, right-leaning respondents see government as “the cause of the problem, not the solution”.

https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2018/02/14/americans-overestimate-social-mobility-in-their-country


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Here is another perspective on the topic, published a few years ago:

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The Number Of Millionaires Has Boomed

Oct 22, 2019

n spite of all the talk about trade wars, conflicts in the Middle East, tariffs and fears of a recession, we’ve witnessed an increase of 1.1 million millionaires from mid-2018 to the middle of 2019. This elite group is collectively worth $158.3 trillion.

The U.S. leads the world in the number of millionaires. America has added 675,000 new millionaires over the past year, bringing its total to 18.6 million people. China added 158,000 new millionaires in this period, raising its total to 4.5 million.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2019/10/22/the-number-of-millionaires-has-boomedheres-where-your-net-worth-ranks-compared-to-others/?sh=c0b1e9a576fa


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Long story short, we have content claiming its easier to move up the wealth ladder in europe, than it is in the united states.

With the consensus from only a year ago being that the united states had the largest growing demographic of millionaires and super wealthy. Which could suggest that it is, or was, easier to become wealthy in the USA than in any other nation on earth, only a few years ago in 2019, before COVID hit.

I remember a time when many americans were thoroughly convinced that europe did everything better. Americans envied the universal healthcare system of europe, and wished the UBI system employed in some european countries could find its way into the USA. At some point that adoration of european policy appears to have diminished. It has been a very long time since I've seen or heard anyone praise european healthcare.

If an entrepreneur had a goal of becoming a millionaire or billionaire and had the option of being a resident in the USA or europe. Which geographic location would be better suited to earn large quantities of wealth? And why.
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