Jerome Powell is reminded of the country's slow economic recovery with a growing homeless encampment outside of the Federal Reserve - The Washington Post washingtonpost.com/business/2021/…
Powell doesn’t know their names or backstories, either. But what he saw was clear. A visceral reminder of the uneven economic recovery. Right there in the Fed’s shadow.
Somehow comforting that someone so powerful is concerned about you.
But who are the “you”?
“They need to be in the room with us as we make decisions”
That is quite a thought.
But there are no rooms at what advocates claim 21st and E.
In fact many of the people seeking shelter here have more elemental concerns.
While the economy is expected to rebound strongly this year, Powell has urged people to pay attention to often overlooked corners of the economy. And he has warned lawmakers and others that something’s not quite right about this recovery.
Many people are getting left behind, and that’s why he has mentioned the people at 21st and E.
The bleak reality comes with complicated questions: What more could the Fed have done to reach the most vulnerable during this recovery?
And does this encampment’s growth, even indirectly, have anything to do with the Fed’s actions?
What is in our current economic toolkit?
And how can we make it work better for those most disenfranchised - and for all of us?
Not the tiny group at the top?
An unequal recovery is also being seen here in the U.K., not just in the US. In our housing market. Prices have risen. I thought they would drop.
Rents are high. This is a way to avoid them.
I love the way they have named the row of tents facing E street “Park Avenue”
And even in their reduced circumstances there is civic pride. Litter picking. Checking on one another. Lending a charger. (What must that be like? Life without a convenient electrical point?!).
So who is living there?
“Malo Lotus used to clock in at least 40 hours a week working at a Popeyes. She and her partner, Isaiah Lotus, 21, relied on the money, especially when it came to buying diapers for their now-10-month-old daughter.”
They are both trying to finish high school. Mall is working on calculus homework. Isaiah hopes to become a dance teacher or choreographer.
“homelessness is such a stark and visual reminder of the radicalised income inequality in the city and country”
Not just in the USA.
UK
Before covid, there were 10 tents. Now, 40.
What’s the U.K. version?
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