We characterize the joint evolution of cross-sectional inequality in earnings, other sources of income and consumption across generations in the U.S. To account for cross-sectional dispersion, we estimate a model of intergenerational persistence and separately identify the influences of parental factors and of idiosyncratic life-cycle components. We find evidence of family persistence in earnings, consumption and saving behaviours, and marital sorting patterns. However, the quantitative contribution of idiosyncratic heterogeneity to cross-sectional inequality is significantly larger than parental effects. Our estimates imply that intergenerational persistence is not high enough to induce further large increases in inequality over time and across generations.

We construct U.S. county-level credit supply shocks by interacting the mortgage growth of multi-market lenders with a county's initial exposure to those lenders. The credit shocks did not impact the local labour markets during the credit boom but had a negative effect during the Great Recession. While local unemployment rates recovered post-Recession, wage growth remained depressed. Further, a long-run increase in older firms' employment share suggests a credit-induced reduction in business dynamism and labour demand. A mechanism through occasionally binding financial constraints tied to house prices can qualitatively explain these asymmetric effects of credit shocks in booms and busts.