Newsletter 919

Northern Lights

Adrian Wooldridge | Economist | 2 February 2013

After pioneering the expansion of the welfare state through the 1970s and 1980s, Sweden has turned back towards market liberalism: "The streets of Stockholm are awash with the blood of sacred cows". Public spending has fallen from 63% of GDP to 49%. Top tax rate down 27 percentage points. Other north Europeans are following suit

Who Can Imagine Ed Koch Anywhere But In New York?

Jonathan Mahler | New York | 1 February 2013

"Koch had no glamour when he was elected, and he managed not to acquire any during three terms in office. He was that rare politician who somehow became more ordinary, more real, even as he grew larger-than-life. He was obnoxious but not pretentious, deeply loved and deeply loathed, all of which only confirmed his essential New York–ness"

Football: The Kotaku Review

Tim Rogers | Kotaku | 1 February 2013

American football explained in the language of role-playing video games. "Football has been in open beta for 144 years. The original goal of the developers was to create a game that roped together more than five centuries of rugby history into a more spectator-friendly, strategically deeper game"

Video of the day: How Your Brain Works

Thought for the day:

"Facebook is a large, inefficient engine for transforming electricity and programmers into low-value advertising" — Christopher Mims

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