The mayor has introduced some innovative policies that have delivered modest gains in housing.
Whatever wrongs were done in the name of Britain in Kenya in the 1950s, the British government has now delivered modest reparations to some victims.
Some, such as allowing companies to buy back their own shares, and letting private-sector suppliers provide Internet access, will deliver modest but tangible benefits.But the more ambitious the promise, the vaguer it seemed to be.
Ian King, above, BAE's chief executive, said in August that his group would deliver "modest growth" for 2012 subject to finalising the deal with Saudi Arabia, which he said he expected in the second half of the deal.
He said that while he accepted changes in aviation practice and aeroplanes could deliver modest improvements in capacity, "none of the submissions made to us have suggested that there are transformational gains to be had".
It has taken a protracted effort by the Bank's president, Jim Yong Kim, to establish exceptional financing facilities that are delivering modest amounts – commitments to Lebanon's refugee education strategy are $100m.
NBC finished a close second for the night among adults 18 to 49, as the "Heroes" second-season premiere earned the night's top ratings in that demographic and 14.1 million total viewers at 9 p.m. Two other NBC shows, "Chuck" at 8 (9.3 million) and "Journeyman" at 10 (9.5 million), delivered modest second-place finishes in their time slots.
In their public statements on Tuesday, Cohn and Trump both mentioned the role that Cohn played in helping to bring about "historic" tax reform, which delivered modest tax cuts to middle-income families and huge tax cuts to big corporations like Goldman.
The growth rate in China's "total factor productivity" (TFP), a measure of the efficiency with which both labour and capital are used, has also been one of the fastest in the world.TFP growth has probably fallen in the past few years, but that largely reflects a spurt in infrastructure investments, which deliver modest immediate gains but will boost productivity over the next 20 or 30 years.
