The Gilded Age and Beyond: The Persistence of Elite Wealth in American History

Priti Kalsi and Zachary Ward

No 33355, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Is the top tail of wealth a set of fixed individuals or is there substantial turnover? We estimate upper-tail wealth dynamics during the Gilded Age and beyond, a time of rapid wealth accumulation and concentration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Using various wealth proxies and data tracking tens of millions of individuals, we find that most extremely wealthy individuals drop out of the top tail within their lifetimes. Yet, elite wealth still matters. We find a non-linear association between grandparental wealth and being in the top 1%, such that having a rich grandparent exponentially increases the likelihood of reaching the top 1%. Still, over 90% of the grandchildren of top 1% wealth grandfathers did not achieve that level.

JEL-codes: D31 J62 N31 N32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-fdg, nep-his and nep-lab
Note: DAE LS
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