Diana Farrell, who is now a member of America's National Economic Council but until recently worked for McKinsey, a consultancy that has spent a lot of time studying the middle classes, reckons they begin at roughly the point where people have a third of their income left for discretionary spending after providing for basic food and shelter.

ECONOMIST: Burgeoning bourgeoisie | The

They said that as humanitarian organisations, they had been doing all they could to help those affected by the fighting by providing shelter, food and other basic necessities, "but it has not nearly been enough".

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But neither do we want an economy that goes backward, back to a time when a larger share of people are employed in providing the established basic services, especially food, shelter and energy.

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