Java Economics

Petroleum and coffee had no value a few centuries ago.

Author Unknown

When walking down the street in the Cairene district of Maadi, one could easily forget that Egypt is in the middle of a revolution, its economy hurting and suffering shortages in essentials such as fuel and even locally produced pharmaceuticals. It boggles the mind how not less than three new coffeeshop/restaurants can open in the past six months to join the multitude of existing coffeeshop/restaurants and pretty much every one of them is doing a good if not booming business, charging prices for a cappuccino that about equal the daily pay of most Egyptians. Here, the middle class that emerged during the Mubarak years is fueling themselves and a java economy.