Rising inequality and declining mobility in the Forbes 400

We examine the joint evolution of inequality and mobility from 1985-2020 using a novel data set of intergenerational family wealth dynamics constructed from the Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans. In recent decades, the concentration of wealth at the very top of the distribution has risen in the U.S. Over this same period, we show that mobility among the wealthiest American family dynasties has declined, with mobility measured either as family wealth-rank correlations over one-year and five-year periods or as the number of new entrants at the top of the distribution.& COPY; 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

We analyze the changing trends of inequality and mobility in the U.S. from 1985-2020 using a unique dataset based on the Forbes 400 list. Our findings reveal an increasing concentration of wealth among the very wealthy individuals. Additionally, we observe a decline in mobility among the richest American family dynasties, as indicated by correlations in family wealth rankings and the number of new entrants at the top.