Elizabeth Warren talk

The previous fall, Geithner huddled with top aides to develop what one called an “Elizabeth Warren strategy,” a plan to engage with the firebrand reformer that would render her politically inert. He never worked out a viable strategy—a way to meet with Warren without drawing undesirable comparisons—and so, like the president, he didn’t.

-Suskind, Ron (2011-09-20). Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington, and the Education of a President (pp. 4-5). Harper. Kindle Edition. Related: Consumer Finance Protection Bureau

Discuss- are escalators decreasing?

Arnold Kling always gives us good brain food on economics;

There are multiple escalators in the economy. At any one point in time, some people are on up escalators, and some people are on down escalators. From 1970 to 2000, I think that cohort data would tell you that many more families rode escalators up than rode them down. From 2000 to today, my guess is that the proportion riding up escalators has not been as high.

Evolution of Household Durables in Egypt

Poverty is widespread in Egypt, affecting 40 percent of the population, and there are deep pockets of poverty. The 40 percent overall poverty rate in 2005 represents 28 million people, of which 13.6 million (19.6 of population) are in absolute poverty, and even more, 14.5 million (21.0 percent), are near-poor. Furthermore, 2.6 million of the poor (3.8 percent of population) are extremely poor (see Table 1, panels A and B). Many people are also concentrated around the poverty line, meaning that a miniscule decline in monthly consumption of just LE 4 will make additional 2.3 percent of the population poor. By the same token, concentration of the poor around the poverty line means that even a small income boost can move more than 2 percent of the population out of poverty

via Egypt Poverty Assessment Update- World Bank