"Low social mobility in Brazil puts the brakes on growth”

In an interview with DW Brasil, economist Paulo Tafner points out that the country's elite place little value on competition. "For the elites who get their wealth from chunks extracted from the state, productivity and social mobility are irrelevant." The descendants of a Brazilian born among the poorest 10% of the country take, on average, nine generations to reach the median income of society. The data, prepared by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), gives a glimpse into how difficult it is for poor people to ascend socially in Brazil.

Among the countries in the survey, Brazil is second only to Colombia. In Argentina, it takes six generations to follow along the same path, in Canada, four, and in Denmark, two.

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