Life chances are increasingly determined by what you inherit, not what you do. But what can we do about it?
The returns on owning are outstripping the returns on earning. House prices have tripled since the turn of the century, but wages only doubled. This has compounded shifts in our sources of economic security: recent years are characterised by the rise of insecure jobs and safe assets. Wealth is becoming the new work.
British public policy has yet come to terms with these realities. The result is a society where life chances are increasingly determined by what you inherit, not what you do. It has stagnated social mobility and economic growth. It also runs against the basic principle of capitalist democracy: hard work pays off.
