A recap of the week’s equity news

“Obama Promotes Plan For Urban Development,” - The Wall Street Journal

Barack Obama’s campaign plans to relaunch his “urban agenda” Monday in what people close to the strategy say is an effort to assure urban leaders and voters of the Democratic nominee’s commitment to cities and minorities without alienating skeptical white voters.

The plan features an increase in the minimum hourly wage, a new White House office focused on metropolitan areas and $60 billion to establish a national bank to finance public-works projects.

“Nation’s Poverty Rate Holds Steady as More Get Health Insurance,” - Washington Post

The nation’s poverty rate held steady as median household income edged upward and the number of Americans without health insurance decreased by more than 1 million people last year, according to annual census data released today.

The Census Bureau report says that 37.3 million people — or 12.5 percent of the population — fell below the official federal poverty threshold in 2007, which is not statistically different than the 12.3 percent who were in poverty in 2006.

“Cities Debate Privatizing Public Infrastructure,” - New York Times

Cleaning up road kill and maintaining runways may not sound like cutting-edge investments. But banks and funds with big money seem to think so.

Reeling from more exotic investments that imploded during the credit crisis, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, the Carlyle Group, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse are among the investors who have amassed an estimated $250 billion war chest — much of it raised in the last two years — to finance a tidal wave of infrastructure projects in the United States and overseas.