Moving to Opportunity: Katz, Ludwig, Chetty and Hendren — discussant Bruce Springsteen

This very important paper “Moving to Opportunity” is well summarized by the discussant.

Baby this town rips the bones from your back
It’s a death trap, it’s a suicide rap
We gotta get [them] out while [they]’re young
`Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run
[regressions]

As noted by the discussant, the authors find that the benefits for young children of moving out of high poverty areas are very large. In contrast moving in ones teens helps girls but not teenage boys many of whom have already begun “steppin’ out over the line” & are harmed by increased access to “suicide machines”.

As noted, the paper is excellent and important, but I think the more striking fact is that the discussant has managed to summarize it so briefly and accurately while rhyming and playing a guitar.