Fewer people are absolutely poor than they were, a smaller portion of humanity is absolutely poor.

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Just to be clear: given that the US is a more unequal country than many others I would expect, by the measure of 50% of median income, the US to have more poor people and a greater portion of children living in poverty so defined.

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The Community Reinvestment Act, for example, requires banks to invest a certain portion of their lending in poor areas.

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Public officials have focused in recent years on the desperate need for money to repair thousands of bridges deemed structurally deficient, which typically means a major portion of the bridge is in poor condition or worse.

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As they put it, the student loan system, is a mess because, at its current rate, aggregate student debt is doubling every seven years (and growing much faster than other forms of debt which traditionally dwarfed student loans), student loan default rates are rising, and a large portion of student borrowers is in poor financial shape, even after graduating from college.

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