Today’s Readings 1/4/2013

1. We need to fix our food production system before it kills us (NYT)
2. Four big money gangs that run the world (Sydney Morning Herald)
3. Is too much data clouding our judgement? (Michael Moritz blog)
4. Japanese trucker takes a vacation and heads to Syria, where he acts as amateur journalist (Japan Times)
5. More meaningless debt panicking. For one no one can agree on how much debt is too much, no one seems to be considering the issue of low long term interest AND the fact that countries nearly always amass debt following an economic shock. Certainly the inability for our Congress to effective debate and compromise is problematic for our image, but people are still watching. Seriously, how much do we know about the Chinese legislature? The US is still massively important on the world stage (for better or for worse) and its patently silly to claim otherwise. The fact that people are watching should be indication enough. These articles make for sensational reading, but not much else. (NYT)
6. Dying doesn’t cost as much as we like to think (NYT)
7. Urbanization in Africa. Lagos will become the largest city on the continent in 2013. Formal unemployment will still top 70% in some cities. (Economist)
8. Japan’s new right wing parliament presents the world with dangerous challenges, and Japan with a backward looking and bleak future (Economist)
9. Air conditioning, the past and the future. It’s going to get hotter than you think (Economist)
10. What exactly is “no negotiation”? I think we’re all smart enough to know better. (Washington Post)