When my dad was 30, it was the year I was born, he was having the 5th of his 6th kids, and he was completing his 10th year of full-time work (he put himself through college while working). He had been married for 9 years.
When I was 30, I was just finishing my PhD in Economics, and had only recently been married, no kids, but a bunch of pets.
Chetty is comparing income at age 30 for a cohort born after WW2, and a cohort born just after me, so not unlike my dad and me. And maybe this is part of Cowen’s complacency story, but my dad had no choice but to earn as much as possible. I’ve clearly chosen not to.
