This article in Slate really shook me up and destroyed some superficial assumptions that I made regarding suicide. What what really interesting is that people who survive a serious suicide attempt increase their earnings by around 36%.

Why should suicide be an economic boon? Once you attempt suicide you suddenly have access to lots of resources—medical care, psychiatric attention, familial love and concern—that were previously expensive or unavailable. Doubters may ask why the depressed don’t seek out resources earlier. But studies have demonstrated that psychological and familial resources become “cheaper” after a suicide attempt: It is difficult to find free medical care when you are sad, but once you try to kill yourself, it’s forced on you.

Maverick James Lovelock believes catastrophe is inevitable.

Humanity is in a period exactly like 1938-9, he explains, when “we all knew something terrible was going to happen, but didn’t know what to do about it”. But once the second world war was under way, “everyone got excited, they loved the things they could do, it was one long holiday … so when I think of the impending crisis now, I think in those terms. A sense of purpose – that’s what people want.”

The money quote?

What would Lovelock do now, I ask, if he were me? He smiles and says: “Enjoy life while you can. Because if you’re lucky it’s going to be 20 years before it hits the fan.”

UBS makes biggest quarterly loss in banking history.

Amazing story

When Sandra Valentine divorced her husband, Johnny, and married the man who had fathered her child during an affair, it had every appearance of another unremarkable tale of marital breakdown.

But when Johnny hit back and sued his rival Jerry Fitch for a six-figure sum, the Mississippi love triangle took on an altogether different dimension. And when he won in a verdict upheld by the state supreme court, he was suddenly richer to the tune of £750,000.

From the eternally interesting Seth Godin comes an inspirational and original post.

Here’s a question that you should clip out and tape to your bathroom mirror. It might save you some angst 15 years from now. The question is, What did you do back when interest rates were at their lowest in 50 years, crime was close to zero, great employees were looking for good jobs, computers made product development and marketing easier than ever, and there was almost no competition for good news about great ideas?

Many people will have to answer that question by saying, “I spent my time waiting, whining, worrying, and wishing.” Because that’s what seems to be going around these days. Fortunately, though, not everyone will have to confess to having made such a bad choice.

The best bit comes near the end.

You get to make a choice. You can remake that choice every day, in fact. It’s never too late to choose optimism, to choose action, to choose excellence. The best thing is that it only takes a moment — just one second — to decide.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Tim Harford on how economists can help you get a six-pack.

If I do not do 200 press-ups and 200 sit-ups each week, they’ll start sending my money to a charity, $100 at a time. (I chose the hugely deserving DC Central Kitchen.) They will shortly offer the same dubious privilege to countless others via a new company, Stickk.com – customers name their own pledges, sign pro-forma contracts, and put their cheques in the post.

Powered by ScribeFire.