The IRS study on intragenerational income mobility that Sowell refers to can be found here.

I could not find a link for the University of Michigan study that Sowell cites, but Townhall commentators point out that a recent UoM study shows that the wealth gap actually increased. Wealth is different from income, of course, so its possible for intragenerational income mobility to occur and intragenerational wealth mobility to not occur, which apparently is what happened in the US.

[url=http://clivecrook.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/11/land_of_o...

The IRS study on intragenerational income mobility that Sowell refers to can be found here.

I could not find a link for the University of Michigan study that Sowell cites, but Townhall commentators point out that a recent UoM study shows that the wealth gap actually increased. Wealth is different from income, of course, so its possible for intragenerational income mobility to occur and intragenerational wealth mobility to not occur, which apparently is what happened in the US.

Clive Crook has an interesting take on the IRS study's conclusions. He points out that it really is not surprising that the lowest quarter in 1996 saw their incomes rise in 2005 while the highest quarter saw their incomes decrease in 2005--this is just capturing young people gaining more income and older people retiring. He also points out that intergenerational income mobility in the US is relatively low compared to other advantaced industrial democracies. See masbury's clip "American dream isn't happening" for more details.