MICH: Does the equalization of opportunities require that one should increase social mobility?

Philippe Van Parijs (UCL)

"Social mobility is much lower than generally asserted. It hardly varies across countries and across time. There is little that can be done about it. And anyway it does not matter that much." These is a somewhat simplified summary of the theses defended by economist Greg Clark (UC Davis) in his book The Son Also Rises (Princeton UP, 2013) on the basis of an empirical analysis of the socio-economic distribution of family names in several countries. What should we make of these claims and what follows from them for the pursuit of justice as equality of opportunities?

Philippe recommends, but does not require, watching this video (or at least Gregory Clark's intervention in it).