The Transformation of the ‘American Dream’
“The American Dream is back.” President Trump made that claim in a speech in January.
They are ringing words, but what do they mean? …
Why Do We Think Poor People are Poor Because of Their Own Bad Choices?
Cecilia Mo thought she knew all about growing up poor when she began teaching at Thomas Jefferson senior high school in south Los …
The American Dream Abides
Is the American dream on life support? That’s the perennial claim of “declinists,” who are convinced that the American spirit of …
Don’t Tell Your Friends They’re Lucky
The whole process of constructing life narratives is biased in ways that almost guarantee that people won’t recognize the role of …
Is the American Dream Really Dead?
Let’s start today with a pop quiz. Here we go: in 1970, what percentage of 30-year-olds in America earned more money than their parents …
Severe Inequality Is Incompatible With the American Dream
The numbers are sobering: People born in the 1940s had a 92 percent chance of earning more than their parents did at age 30. For people …
The American Dream, Quantified at Last
The phrase “American dream” was invented during the Great Depression. It comes from a popular 1931 book by the historian James Truslow …
50 Years Seeking Educational Equality: Revisiting the Coleman Report
One of the most influential and hotly debated education studies in American history turns 50 this weekend. See what’s changed on …
How Equal Should Opportunities Be?
In 1864, Abraham Lincoln gave a short speech to a sanitary fair in Baltimore. While the address itself is of little note, it does …
Rich Kids Stay Rich, Poor Kids Stay Poor
On Friday, a team of researchers led by Stanford economist Raj Chetty released a paper on how growing up in poverty affects boys and …
