Karen Duffin

Basically, no impact on educational outcomes, employment, or income. If you want to improve those things, the final report said, housing is not your answer. Housing is just housing. And with that, all of the hopes and dollars and research and programs that had been going towards this idea about housing, a lot of that just got rerouted to other ideas. But then this thing happened.

About four years after that final sad MTO data came out, another researcher badged into his government cubicle, this time on the 10th floor of the IRS headquarters in D.C., And like Mark, he wanted to understand how to improve people's economic lives.

About four years after that final sad MTO data came out, another researcher badged into his government cubicle, this time on the 10th floor of the IRS headquarters in D.C., And like Mark, he wanted to understand how to improve people's economic lives.

About four years after that final sad MTO data came out, another researcher badged into his government cubicle, this time on the 10th floor of the IRS headquarters in D.C., And like Mark, he wanted to understand how to improve people's economic lives.

This is Nathan Hendren. He's an economist from Harvard. And for a few years, he and some of his research pals had been granted access to tax records at the IRS, with all kinds of privacy restrictions, of course.

This is Nathan Hendren. He's an economist from Harvard. And for a few years, he and some of his research pals had been granted access to tax records at the IRS, with all kinds of privacy restrictions, of course.

This is Nathan Hendren. He's an economist from Harvard. And for a few years, he and some of his research pals had been granted access to tax records at the IRS, with all kinds of privacy restrictions, of course.

Having that much data allows them to be so much more precise.

Having that much data allows them to be so much more precise.

Having that much data allows them to be so much more precise.

Nathan is trying to understand the impact of tax policies on upward mobility, which is economists speak for, can you achieve the American dream? Can a child go from the bottom income bracket to, over time, the top income bracket? And this is an issue that has become increasingly urgent.

Nathan is trying to understand the impact of tax policies on upward mobility, which is economists speak for, can you achieve the American dream? Can a child go from the bottom income bracket to, over time, the top income bracket? And this is an issue that has become increasingly urgent.

Nathan is trying to understand the impact of tax policies on upward mobility, which is economists speak for, can you achieve the American dream? Can a child go from the bottom income bracket to, over time, the top income bracket? And this is an issue that has become increasingly urgent.

Right now, the data says that you are twice as likely to be able to achieve the American dream in Europe, or at least a lot of countries in Europe. So Nathan is looking at tax records from across the country, and he does start seeing a pattern. A pattern that surprised him. That huge MTO study. It looked like it had missed something. Something enormous.

Right now, the data says that you are twice as likely to be able to achieve the American dream in Europe, or at least a lot of countries in Europe. So Nathan is looking at tax records from across the country, and he does start seeing a pattern. A pattern that surprised him. That huge MTO study. It looked like it had missed something. Something enormous.

Right now, the data says that you are twice as likely to be able to achieve the American dream in Europe, or at least a lot of countries in Europe. So Nathan is looking at tax records from across the country, and he does start seeing a pattern. A pattern that surprised him. That huge MTO study. It looked like it had missed something. Something enormous.

After the break, the experiment that changed everything has to change. Okay, so Nathan Hendren was knee-deep in all of this income tax data at the IRS. alongside his researcher pal Raj Chetty.

After the break, the experiment that changed everything has to change. Okay, so Nathan Hendren was knee-deep in all of this income tax data at the IRS. alongside his researcher pal Raj Chetty.

After the break, the experiment that changed everything has to change. Okay, so Nathan Hendren was knee-deep in all of this income tax data at the IRS. alongside his researcher pal Raj Chetty.

They'd seen this data that showed a pattern. People who are rising from the bottom income bracket to the top income bracket aren't just randomly scattered across the country. They're clustered. And your chances of escaping poverty vary widely depending on which cluster you're in. So Nathan digs in deeper. He's starting to look at families who moved into higher mobility neighborhoods.