Is it as late as university? Or is it a good bit earlier? - Edit 1
Before modification by Vodalus at 14/05/2010 06:01:04 PM
The foreign school systems I'm familiar with separate the students by their abilities/test scores starting between elementary and junior high. The truly "elite" ones do it before pre-school by testing both the students and the mothers. It's not too difficult to predict who will and who won't have a shot at making it into a university right then and there.
Maybe he's a brooding Welshman? Might even be a Desi.
No, not British 
You do realize your profile says you're British, yes? 
Maybe he's a brooding Welshman? Might even be a Desi.
You're right that there is a systematic difference in who enrolls. However, going to college doesn't necessarily make someone rich (ironically, the opposite may occur)
(ironically, the opposite may occur)No, not necessarily. The correlation is not perfect, but it still is rather strong.
Going back to taxes, if you include corporations (who pay a large chunk to be sure), then US is more progressive than virtually every other country (except for a couple non-notables (i.e., not hotbeds of commerce)).
Eh. As Vodalus says, the US has a towering tax rate for corporation but has so many exceptions and tax deductions that the real tax rate is not higher than in other countries. It makes the rhetoric about "let's bring down our corporation tax rate so our companies can compete better with foreign ones" that you hear from some politicians completely ridiculous.