The RECOVERY Picks Up Steam

Despite the possibility of a self-imposed recession next year, Neil Irwin notes that recent economic data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis shows a strengthening recovery if lawmakers can avoid the “fiscal cliff.”

“Personal consumption spending rose 0.4 percent and incomes rose 0.6 percent, according to one report. According to another, overall orders for durable goods rose 0.7 percent while a key measure of business investment, orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft, rose a surprising 2.7 percent.”

“The personal income number is perhaps the single best piece of news in the day’s reports. In the last several months, Americans’ spending has risen steadily, but it hasn’t been matched by higher incomes… And the rise in incomes was driven in large part by an increase in wages and salaries—which is to say, more money in the pockets of workers, not just a rise in investment income.”

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Want to boost your brain? Take a tip from Mother Nature

What writers have known for centuries, scientists are now endeavouring to prove – that contact with nature can boost creativity and problem solving skills.
Backpackers who spent four days in the wilderness without access to electronic devices scored 50 per cent better on a creativity test at the end of the trip, according to researchers.

Earlier studies have shown that going for a long walk can improve the accuracy of proof-reading, the ability to perceive an optical illusion and the capacity to repeat a list of numbers backwards.

Yet the time people spend outdoors and in contact with nature is diminishing. Children spend only 15-25 minutes daily in outdoor play and sport  and the average teenager spends more than 7.5 hours a day using mobile phones or computers and watching TV, according to the US researchers.

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