[badsock]

That belief is widespread in America, but is unsupported by data. If you look at how hard it is for an American to rise out of the conditions they were born in, they're worse off than if they'd been born in (for example) France, Germany, Canada, or Denmark:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Intergenerational_mobilit...

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_mobility (see the "Worldwide" section).

[georgeecollins]

Piketty's work was a history of the previous century. You are pointing out current statistics, which make his point that things have changed.