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We study the long-run persistence of relative economic well-being under adverse government policies using a combination of historical and contemporaneous data from Kyrgyzstan. After controlling for unobservable local effects, the economic well-being of Kyrgyz households in the 2010s correlates with the early 20th-century average wealth of their tribes. Inequality at the tribe level in the 2010s correlates with wealth inequality in the early 20th century. The likely channels of persistence are the inter-generational transmission of human capital, relative status, political power, and cultural traits. Transmission of material wealth, differences in natural endowments, or geographic sorting cannot explain persistence.