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Conventional wisdom has it that social mobility - ie how easy is it to move up or down the social ladder - has been accelerating in many countries. But in this week's Forum, Jo Fidgen hears some startling new research on how painfully slow that process really is, even in enlightened regions such as Scandinavia. Economic historian Gregory Clark has been finding out what your surname says about your chances of self-improvement. Sociologist Alan Bairner has been examining social mobility through sport: who gets to play at the top level, and what does that do to their social status? And economist Thomas Piketty has been analysing reams of data to find out why it nearly always pays more to invest family money than working. Picture: A man wears a crown outside Westminster Abbey in London, Credit: Andrew Cowie/AFP/Getty Images