> After a couple generations, rich & powerful families with status tend to have more attractive families.
...unless they inbreed (which a lot of european royalty did), in which case it works in reverse. Also, income mobility probably prevents this from having significant effects. According to [1] if your father is in the top pentile, you only have a 36% chance of remaining in the top pentile. Repeat this over 5 generations, and you only have a 0.6% chance of staying in the top pentile.
Is each generation independent though? In other words, if the past three generations were in the top N-ile, do you have a better chance to also be in that bracket?
...unless they inbreed (which a lot of european royalty did), in which case it works in reverse. Also, income mobility probably prevents this from having significant effects. According to [1] if your father is in the top pentile, you only have a 36% chance of remaining in the top pentile. Repeat this over 5 generations, and you only have a 0.6% chance of staying in the top pentile.
[1] https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/02_econ... page 4, table 1