Question

Question 2, Chapter 14: "What would you rather live in--a society with a high degree of absolute mobility, but a low degree of relative mobility, or a society with a high degree of relative mobility and a low degree of absolute mobility? You cannot answer that you want a high degree of both kinds of mobility."

Rycroft, Robert S. 2018. Economics of Inequality, Discrimination, Poverty, and Mobility, 2^nd Ed. NY: Routledge.

Answer 1

Relative mobility is when someone's position changes in comparison with other people. If someone gets richer while others remain at the same position, it implies greater relative mobility for that person.

Absolute mobility on the other hand doesn't take into account other's position. If someone gets better off, irrespective of what happens to others, he is said to be mobile.

Relative mobility is a better metric for a society because without it, even if someone is getting better off in the absolute sense, it does not mean that his position is improving vis-a-vis others if everyone else also enjoys the same mobility. We can safely conclude that inequality is declining only when the lower sections enjoy relative upward mobility compared to the richer sections. Thus mobility, as a social metric makes sense only when compared to others. In this aspect, relative mobility is preferred