Spatial frictions

City life requires a lot of attention. Navigating a busy sidewalk while processing loud storefronts and avoiding rogue pigeons may feel like second-nature at times, but it's actually quite a bit of work for the human brain. Psychologists do know that quick walks through the park can restore our focus, but they're still getting a handle on just what urbanization means for human cognition.

A PR firm that works for The New Yorker Magazine sent me a sneak preview of this magazine's January 2013 article about how NYC will adapt to climate change.   The piece is written by a fine NYU Sociologist named Eric Klinenberg.  His very good book about deaths in Chicago from the 1990s heat wave has elevated him to disaster guru and I presume that this is why he was selected to write this.

If you know Brian Dunning at all, it's probably as the host of "Skeptoid," a podcast that debunks pseudoscience. Recent episodes have discussed UFOs, aliens, and free energy machines.

PYONGYANG, North Korea — North Korea announced Saturday that an American detained for nearly six months is being tried in the Supreme Court on charges of plotting to overthrow the government, a crime that could draw the death penalty if he is convicted. The case involving Kenneth Bae, who has been in North Korean custody since early November, further complicates already fraught relations between Pyongyang and Washington following weeks of heightened rhetoric and tensions.

The debate about the usefulness of sovereign credit default swaps (SCDS) intensified with the outbreak of sovereign debt stress in the euro area. SCDS can be used to protect investors against losses on sovereign debt arising from so-called credit events such as default or debt restructuring.

There have been three major eras of human history: foraging, farming, and industry. During each era our economy has grown at a roughly steady exponential rate, and I’ve written before about some intriguing patterns in these growth eras: eras encompassed a similar number of doublings (~7-10), transitions were much shorter than prior doubling times, and transitions between eras encompassed a similar number of growth rate doublings (~6-8).

Strong words today on the Irish Promo Notes deal from ECB's Jens Weidmann via Bloomberg (link to full interview here):