How Do Rich Neighborhoods Exist So Close to Poor Ones?
The research of the Harvard economist Raj Chetty shows that the scale of inequality is incredibly small.
In recent years, Raj Chetty has become economist-famous for cataloging American inequality, assembling enormous data sets showing which Americans tend to get ahead. More to the point, his work shows where Americans tend to get ahead. Chetty, a Harvard economics professor, has focused on how where one grows up shapes one’s economic prospects.
Chetty’s research demonstrates just how unevenly “upward mobility”—basically, people’s ability to
