UPWARD MOBILITY FOR YOU FAMILY & EMPLOYEES IS THE GOAL, NOT INCOME

LESSON: Young people today in the U.S. feel they can’t buy a home or even live on their own. Your job as CEO or Head of Household is to teach and prepare your young people to climb the ladder as far as possible. The rest will take care of itself.

It’s common for unsavvy economic pundits today to speak of how Denmark, Sweden, and even Canada rank higher than the U.S. in upward mobility, the ability be born in a lower income bracket from your parents but to rise to higher income brackets. Economists always dissect our nations into 5ths (20% segments).

So, Roland Fryer, a Harvard Economics Professor (is that a triple oxymoron?) claims that in the U.S. only about 8% of children born into the bottom fifth of income reach the top fifth, while it’s 11% in Denmark and 16% in Sweden.

Yet, what they don’t tell you, because of the incredible implementation of capitalism the last 200 years, the top fifth of the United States is deep and wide with an incredible number of billionaires. So, yes, it is definitely hard to come from the bottom to there in one generation. And the studies don’t explain how these Nordic countries have less differentiation from bottom to top by taxing and suppressing the growth of the achievers. Let’s all be mediocre together. They say they are happier, so I will let them have that, but it’s not for the Martinovich Family!

A reminder from previous economic blogs, in the United States poverty has been basically eradicated long ago. The bottom two fifths receive a tremendous reallocation of income and services which keeps them above the poverty line even when not working (look at the outrage to make working age males work or go to school in order to receive benefits). Also, reminder that the top fifth pays over 80% of all taxes in our country. The people getting screwed, as always, are the middle two fifths paying an exorbitant amount of tax relative to their income.

Most studies show the best correlations for upward mobility to be safe and supporting neighborhoods, social capital (strong relationships), and family stability. These factors for our families and our companies create young people with traits like resilience, self-esteem, and conscientiousness.

I’ve spoken of my own father’s miraculous rise from poverty in the steel mills of Johnstown, PA to a brilliant career supporting Air Force Intelligence (1-1M shot), but he had a strong single mother, grandmother, and 4 uncles which kept him inline daily. In our middle-class neighborhood in Dayton, OH, 30 kids stayed out until dark playing every sport possible and knowing not just our parents, but our neighbor’s parents would have our hides if we didn’t follow orders.

This week do everything possible to give your employees and your family the ability to maximize upward mobility. Money is just taxed, and we blow it on silly things. Through your leadership, give everyone else the ability to climb the ladder and make us all proud!

- Thanks to Mr. Fryer, WSJ, for his opinions.

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Just One More: Just One More: The Wisdom of Bob Vukovich: Martinovich, Mr Jeffrey A: 9781790554850: Amazon.com: Books