Christophe Van Langenhove

New Markov chain methods reveal how, for the US, the last half century is associated with decreased mobility for the upper and lower classes, and greater mobility for the middle, from Geoffrey Wodtke, Weiqi Wang, Kristina Butaeva, and @durlauf.bsky.social www.nber.org/papers/w34800

The paper is available on SSRN: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Main result: at equal tax revenue, wealth taxes generate higher wealth inequality but also higher wealth mobility than capital gains taxes.

Policymakers who value both low wealth inequality and high wealth mobility face a trade-off.

🚨 New working paper – Wealth Taxation, Capital Gains Taxation and the Inequality–Mobility Trade-Off

Together with @janlo.de and @jansg.bsky.social, we compare wealth taxes and capital gains taxes in a random growth model with idiosyncratic investment risk.

This paper shows that women get fewer and smaller parental transfers, and different assets. Tax breaks favor business assets (more often inherited by men); men pay lower effective tax rates. Resulting gender tax gap (2% inheritances, 22% gifts) reinforces 🇩🇪wealth inequality

📣 Empirical Macroeconomics Summer School

📍Ghent University, Belgium
📅 24-28 August 2026

Course on Bayesian VARs: estimation and structural analysis by Christiane Baumeister

All info and registration 👉 sites.google.com/view/macrosu...

Measuring welfare A comprehensive measure of well-being shows that the gap between Black and White Americans is larger than traditional metrics suggest.

A new, comprehensive measure of well-being shows that standard indicators, like wealth and consumption, may substantially understate the extent of racial inequality in the US, say researchers at @hec.ca and Stanford. #econsky www.aeaweb.org/research/cha...

The paper is available on SSRN: dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn...

3. The synthetic method underestimates saving rates by over 100% and overstates inequality.

4. Wealth mobility contributes over 100% to observed saving rates in the middle of the distribution, but only 15–32% at the top.

Key findings:
1. Saving rates out of labor income rise strongly with wealth, while saving rates out of wealth are stable.

2. The positive relationship is driven by passive saving: over 80% of total saving in the top decile consists of capital gains.

🚨New working paper 🚨 – Saving Rate Heterogeneity across the Wealth Distribution in the United States

Using PSID data (2001–2021), I provide mobility-consistent estimates of saving rates across the U.S. wealth distribution.

3. The synthetic method underestimates saving rates by over 100% and overstates inequality.

4. Wealth mobility contributes over 100% to observed saving rates in the middle of the distribution, but only 15–32% at the top.

Key findings:
1. Saving rates out of labor income rise strongly with wealth, while saving rates out of wealth are stable.

2. The positive relationship is driven by passive saving: over 80% of total saving in the top decile consists of capital gains.

Billionaire Migration: An Interactive Map An interactive map of city-level migration flows for 3,106 billionaires from birth to most recent residence.

New from me:

An interactive data visualization showing billionaire migration: paths from birthplace to most recent residence for > 3,100 of the world’s richest individuals.

Most importantly, fun to play around with; also, useful for thinking about q's re: elites and comparative wealth ineq. 1/5

🔔 I’m on the market! 🔔

𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐉𝐌𝐏 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰:
- 📌 Since the 1980s the financial sector in the U.S. has grown dramatically before stabilizing in the aftermath of the Great Financial Crisis of 2008-10.

Ever wondered whether capital or labor income makes individuals move up the income ladder? So did my fantastic co-authors @marcoranaldi.bsky.social and @robertoiacono.org and I!

Short answer: It's mostly LABOR income! 1/2

In a new paper, Coleman & Lukina re-examine assortative matching literature using new rank correlation measures. Contrary to previous results, they find that assortative matching actually rose from the 1960s through the 1980s to 2013, rather than flattening out.
Read their research→ bit.ly/4mqXDDH

Belgische vermogensongelijkheid, 1935-2022 - Armoede en Sociale Uitsluiting Hoe is vermogen in België verdeeld? En hoe evolueerde de vermogensverdeling door de tijd heen? In deze blogpost bespreekt Arthur Apostel hoe deze vragen beantwoord kunnen worden en wat de resultaten z...

Hoe zijn de vermogens in België verdeeld? Niet-technische (poging tot toch 😉) blogpost voor de Universitaire Stichting Armoedebestrijding.

Link: blog.uantwerpen.be/armoede-soci...

abstract of BWI article

🚨 New working paper: “Belgian wealth inequality, 1935-2022” (NBB WP 477).
▸ Top 1 % owns ≈22 % of net wealth - same as bottom 75 %
▸ Inequality strongly declined last century, stabilised in recent years
PDF 👉 www.nbb.be/en/media/17695
#EconSky #Belgium #WealthInequality

🚨 New working paper 🚨

I investigate wealth mobility in the United States using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID).

#EconSky #WealthMobility

Read the full paper here: wps-feb.ugent.be/Papers/wp_25_1104.pdf

🚨 New working paper 🚨

I investigate wealth mobility in the United States using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID).

#EconSky #WealthMobility

New paper: benjaminmoll.com/challenge/

Interested in inequality research? Here is a starter pack containing research centers / institutes / organizations dedicated to the study of socioeconomic inequality.

Time seemed ripe as, finally, organizations are moving to Bluesky. Let me know if others should be added.

go.bsky.app/5daYr6v