Inequality: It starts in the womb

French economist Thomas Piketty sparked a global debate on inequality by arguing that the wealthy pull ahead by reaping disparate rewards from financial capital. He may be missing the human half of the story. 

When defining capital, Piketty excludes the kind that "consists of an individual's labor power, skills, training and abilities" because it can't be owned or traded on a market, according to his best-selling book "Capital in the Twenty-First Century." 

The distribution of such human capital is a growing area of focus as some economists see gaps widening early on based on what money can buy. Children from poorer families may miss advantages that include time spent with their parents and early childhood education, which is linked to better brain development, higher test scores and, in turn, greater earnings, said Sean Reardon, professor of education and sociology at Stanford University. 

"Low-income kids have less access to lots of opportunities to develop their cognitive skills," Reardon said in an interview. "A lot of these differences in cognitive development emerge in the first few years of life and then are kind of there forever."

http://www.telegram.com/article/20140715/NEWS/307159737/1052