The American Dream is Now a Coin Flip: Here's Why and What We Can Do (#287)
Tue Feb 03 2026
The American Dream promises that hard work leads to a better life. But for many children today, that promise depends less on effort and more on where they grow up.
Raj Chetty, a Harvard professor and the founder of Opportunity Insights, has spent years following millions of lives to understand what truly drives economic mobility. His findings challenge long-held assumptions about opportunity in America.
If the American Dream has started to feel like a coin flip, what’s quietly shaping the odds? And what would it take to give more children a real chance to get ahead?
In this conversation, we explore why neighborhoods matter more than we think and how expanding opportunity could strengthen not just individual lives, but the country as a whole.
See his new paper Creating High Opportunity Neighborhoods.
More
The American Dream promises that hard work leads to a better life. But for many children today, that promise depends less on effort and more on where they grow up. Raj Chetty, a Harvard professor and the founder of Opportunity Insights, has spent years following millions of lives to understand what truly drives economic mobility. His findings challenge long-held assumptions about opportunity in America. If the American Dream has started to feel like a coin flip, what’s quietly shaping the odds? And what would it take to give more children a real chance to get ahead? In this conversation, we explore why neighborhoods matter more than we think and how expanding opportunity could strengthen not just individual lives, but the country as a whole. See his new paper Creating High Opportunity Neighborhoods.