Brian Gongol
Despite the magnitude of this weekend's earthquake in Hawaii, there were no deaths reported. Know why? Because wealthy countries don't lose many lives to natural disasters.
Russia's government plans to bribe people to have more children. Places and people who obsess too much over their demographics tend to be the ones who don't understand the power of ideas. If your country is magnificent enough, people will be breaking down the doors to try to get in -- but if the economy's in the toilet and no one has any freedom, then you have to turn to other ways to keep up the population. But size isn't the only factor that decides whether a place is rich or poor -- in fact, in many cases, size has nothing to do with a place's wealth or poverty. Switzerland, Hong Kong, and New Zealand are all relatively small, but they're also relatively rich.
No birthday cards at the office? Thanks to age-discrimination rules, it's happening in some European offices. It's yet another example of why it's best to be skeptical of any new regulation or law, no matter how well-intended.
In a big win for capitalism, the winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize is the man who founded the Grameen Bank, which solves poverty by using capitalism to help the poor help themselves.