It’s Better to Have Rich Parents Than to be Educated, in the US

Via Andrew Sullivan, Ryan Avent points to a remarkable finding in some recent research on education and economic well-being:

The truly amazing thing to me is that parental income isn't just crucial in getting to college, and getting through college — its effects linger on, basically, in perpetuity. One of the most remarkable findings from the Pew Charitable Trusts' Economic Mobility Project is that a child from a family in the top income quintile who does not get a college degree is more likely to wind up in the top income quintile himself than a child from a family in the bottom income quintile who does get a college degree.

Educ and equal