There has been a fruitful exchange going back over 10 years in the journals on the question of how much is inherited, with Summers and Kotlikoff on one hand and Modigliani on the other. At issue is methodology and what counts as "inheritance" (for instance, should money spent by parents on raising children and sending them to college count?) Summers ends up with a figure of <at least> 45% of the wealth being inherited, I believe, but estimates range from 20-80%. (!) I believe Edward Wolff also has some numbers showing that most of the growth in wealth since 1962 is simply the appreciation of already existing wealth, which would be another way to look at it. I too would be interested in hearing from those who are on top of this question more precisely. best, Thad Williamson
