Hillbilly Elegy

friend of a friend to make sure their
name gets the look it deserves. They
have their uncles call old college
buddies. They have their school’s career
service office set up interviews months
in advance on their behalf. They have
parents tell them how to dress, what to
say, and whom to schmooze.
That doesn’t mean the strength of
your résumé or interview performance is
irrelevant. Those things certainly matter.
But there is enormous value in what
economists call social capital. It’s a
professor’s term, but the concept is
pretty simple: The networks of people
and institutions around us have real
economic value. They connect us to the