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 I have taken up blogging at the New York Times and so am updating this blog infrequently.  Please follow my Times posts here.

It's a new year. Time for a dubious causal claim!

A new study shows that richer neighborhoods in New York City are closer to public transportation and economic activity. It then makes a big leap, asserting that the causal arrow runs from transportation to income. This is a plausible hypothesis, but the study provides no empirical support for this interpretation. 

The study definitely does not support the sensationalist assertion that a college education is less important for financial well-being than access to public transportation:

“In New York, mass transit is the path to economic mobility, not education,” said Mitchell Moss, the center’s director. “It’s far more important to have a MetroCard than a college degree.”

The quote is from the Wall Street Journal

http://www.wsj.com/articles/report-connects-jobs-transportation-web-1420246652

Google "Report Connects Jobs, Transportation Web" if the WSJ link hits a paywall. 

The full study is here:

http://wagner.nyu.edu/rudincenter/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/NYURudinJobAccessReport.pdf