On Tue, 20 Feb 2001, Tom WSMF wrote:
> The Kenedy Clan might be a good pop example of this. ...
The Kennedy family has had so many external forces on it that it does not
make a good sample of a rich family. But from what's there, one might
summarize it as: Generation 1 = becomes rich. Generation 2 = devoted to
public service. Generation 3 = mixed results, with about half going into
public service. Although some people in each generation have had flaws
and scandals, I think very few in the family have lost the ambition and
competitiveness instilled by Joe and Rose.
Regarding longitudinal studies of rich families, you might not want to
structure your research around families that are still rich 60 years
later, as that biases your sample. Unless you're only interested in the
super-rich, like the Rockefellers (who are not all that rich now that the
fortune is split among several hundred descendants).
Instead you could take samples of individual families throughout the past
century, and see who got richer or poorer. With marriages and
inheritances, it probably becomes a complicated model :-)
-Matt Jensen
NewsBlip.com
Seattle
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