We’ve gotta get you a whuppin’
This Everyday Economics article from Slate.com validates my own empirical research. Everytime I shop at Wal-Mart there is at least one parent yelling at a child that there is a “whuppin’ ” awaiting him in the parking lot. This happens much less at Target. I’ve never witnessed such a scene at Lord & Taylor or Nordstrom.

In child discipline, as in pretty much everything else, the rich have more options than the poor. If you're rich (or even modestly middle-class), you can take away the Game Boy, confiscate the car keys, or turn off the Instant Messenger. But for families with no Game Boys, no cars, and no Internet access, that whole range of punishments is unavailable.

........But according to Weinberg, the effect of income persists even after you've controlled for race and other cultural variables.

If the link is causal—that is, if being spanked actually lowers your earnings potential—and if spanking runs in families, then we have an alternative explanation for Weinberg's numbers: Low-income parents are more likely to spank their children because low-income parents are more likely to have been spanked themselves. Or maybe it's as simple as this: Poverty breeds frustration, and frustrated parents lash out at their kids. Does any reader have a better story?

I can only remember being spanked about three times. (Once when I was about three, my father found me sitting on the curb in the street in front of our house. I remember him sweeping down from behind me, grabbing me with one strong arm and giving one good swat while declaiming the dangers of playing in the street. I still can’t walk or play in the street without fearing the long arm of my father. He died in 1993, but I still feel him watching me if I’m in the street improperly!) So if the link is causal, I should be up there in the high six figure earners, right?