China Bigger Than German Economy

China has taken Germany's spot as the world's third-largest economy after the United States and Japan.

Total GDP figures were revised upwards to 3.76 trillion dollars. Germany's GDP was just below 2.49 trillion.

Geeks Bearing Gifts

Whether you love the computer world the way it is, or consider it a nightmare honkytonk prison, you'll giggle and rage at Ted Nelson's telling of computer history, its personalities and infights.

Computer movies, music, 3D; the eternal fight between Jobs and Gates; the tangled stories of the Internet and the World Wide Web; all these and more are punchily told.

Depression Looming In Bearish Economy

Well said, Paul Krugman:

“If we don’t act swiftly and boldly,” declared President-elect Barack Obama in his latest weekly address, “we could see a much deeper economic downturn that could lead to double-digit unemployment.” If you ask me, he was understating the case.

We weren’t supposed to find ourselves in this situation. For many years most economists believed that preventing another Great Depression would be easy.

Here’s my nightmare scenario: It takes Congress months to pass a stimulus plan, and the legislation that actually emerges is too cautious. As a result, the economy plunges for most of 2009, and when the plan finally starts to kick in, it’s only enough to slow the descent, not stop it. Meanwhile, deflation is setting in, while businesses and consumers start to base their spending plans on the expectation of a permanently depressed economy.