Because That's Where The Money Isn't
02/23/2011
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The centerpiece story on NYTimes.com is:

Bank Closings Tilt Toward Poor Areas By Nelson D. Schwarz

Government data shows that as banks shut branches in poorer areas last year, like an Ohio Savings Bank in Cleveland, they expanded in richer neighborhoods.
Perhaps Willie Sutton could have explained this strange phenomenon.

Reading this article reminds me that there is a sizable infrastructure of academics, activists, corporate staffers, and government officials whose jobs revolve around checking up on mortgage lending to make sure enough money is going to the right sort of people. We have a sizable apparatus of people employed to nudge mortgages in only one direction.

In contrast, far fewer people get a paycheck for complaining that, say, Apple Stores aren't opened in Compton. (For example, the three Apple Stores on the Apple website listed as being in Los Angeles are at The Grove, the Beverly Center, and Century City, which aren't exactly fully representative of Los Angeles).

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