The NBER, an organization that has been respected for its
economic research for more than 2/3rds of a century, since its
founding by one of my heroes, Wesley Mitchell, released a report that is final
proof of the meritocratic movement in the United States in the last quarter of
the 20th Century. Here is an exerpt from Slate:
Between 1980 and 2001, the percentage of top executives whose undergraduate degrees came from Ivy League schools fell by nearly a third from 14 percent to 10 percent. Others who paid through the nose for their sheepskins also lost ground. The percentage of top execs who attended private non-Ivy schools (Williams College, Notre Dame, Stanford, etc.) fell from 54 percent in 1980 to 42 percent in 2001. Meanwhile, the proportion of those who attended public universities soared from 32 percent to 48 percent. A similar dynamic was seen in graduate degrees as well: far fewer on a percentage basis from Ivy League schools and far more on a percentage basis from public universities.
If that doesn’t put a nail in the coffin of residual Marxist
belief in: an American ruling class, only brain surgery could get rid of
it.
A quote from the abstract on the NBER website adds an interesting touch.
Interestingly, the most stable firms the 26 that were in the Fortune 100 in both periods had just as much lifetime employment among executives in 2001 as in 1980.
By my personal count, of the 26 that the NBER found stable
on the Fortune 100 list, I would remove six that are no longer in the same
business as a result of mergers and buy-outs. That means that in a 20-year period, 80% of the top corporations in
America changed or were replaced. That volitility didn't make executives more or less secure in their jobs.
That should put a second nail in the coffin of residual
Marxist belief that: there is a dominant monopoly component to American
business.
The last point in the NBER report concerns the rapid rise of women in the Fortune 100 corporations. Fortunately I only had one woman friend who believed in the glass ceiling, so I see no need to cite that part of the report.
America is the most meritocratic society in human history. If you haven't gotten what you believe you deserve, what other country could you go to, and who can you blame?