It’s not often The Tico Times writes an explainer about basic Costa Rican daily living that’s equally surprising to a first-time visitor and a high court justice.
The world "witnessed an historic reduction in global poverty" over the first decade of the century, with those considered "middle income" nearly doubling, according to the Pew Research Center. But Costa Rica's middle class — and that of most other Central American countries — shrunk over the same time period as a percentage of those countries' total population.
