Rising from rags to riches in Europe

First, a confession: every week, it's hard to resist the temptation of commenting "The Economist" on EU issues. But this week I do.

The chance of social upward-mobility is exceptionally bigger in Europe than in the US, the Economist reports.

"Aroud three-quarters of sons born into the poorest fith of the population in Nordic countries in the late 1950s had moved out of that category by the time they were in their early 40s. In contrast, only just over half of american men born at the bottom later moved up." - "The Nordic countries are distinctive in one further way: (...) Nordic countries have almost completely snapped the link between the earnings of parents and children at and near the bottom. That is not at all true of America."

"The obvious explanation for greater mobility in the Nordic countries os theiir tax and welfare systems. (...) The other part of the explanation seems to be their superior education system." (The Economist, 5/27/2006)

The Economist seems almost surprised of the fact that a deregulated economy like the US provides much lesser chances of upward-mobility.

Finally, it seems, the message is starting to get through. A fair welfare system does not hinder economic growth (as the Nordic countries prove in every statistics), but connected with a well-financed and progressive educational system it's simply unbeatable. Rising from rags to riches seems to be not the American but the European way of life.

It's about time to implement this lesson in Continental Europe and in Brussels.

Here are the links to the respective studies the Economist quotes:
"Non-linearities in Inter-generational Earnings Mobility"
"American Exceptionalism in a New Light"