“There are millions of Americans whose suffering, through material poverty and poor health, is as bad or worse than that of the people in Africa or in Asia.” In the NYT, economics Nobel laureate Angus Deaton compares the deep poverty in America with that found in other places around the world. The results might surprise you.

+ “The richest 2,000 people on the planet … saw their wealth increase by a staggering $762 billion in just one year. That’s an average of $381 million apiece. If those billionaires had simply been content with staying at their 2016 wealth, and had given their one-year gains to the world’s poorest people instead, then extreme poverty would have been eradicated.” Felix Salmon with some interesting takes on the latest Oxfam poverty report.