The Importance of Hard Work

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Jim Heckman: Many people would argue that many of these values, I mean, you can see it now. My only criticism of that is that the goal isn't to help their mothers be more inspired to help their kids stay in school longer and make more money. He says there's no evidence that a policy of that sort leads to anything resembling a quality life.

Economist and Nobel Laureate James Heckman of the University of Chicago talks about inequality and economic mobility with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Drawing on research on inequality in Denmark with Rasmus Landerso, Heckman argues that despite the efforts of the Danish welfare state to provide equal access to education, there is little difference in economic mobility between the United States and Denmark. The conversation includes a general discussion of economic mobility in the United States along with a critique of Chetty and others' work on the power of neighborhood to determine one's economic destiny.