Going Up

What would you choose to do if you were to find yourself in an elevator heading at speed towards the ground floor? My advice is to crouch in the corner.

Many people have an inbuilt fear for elevators - we worry when we all pile into one at the airport, on ski-lifts or in a multi-storey hotel; we often cast an eye to the notice on the inside telling us the maximum weight capacity and wonder in silence whether that portly guy with two bags should really have been told to wait for the next lift to arrive. Our fears can be hugely disproportionate to the risks involved. Most of the people who die in elevator accidents are employees of the company using them more people people die in car accidents in five hours than perish in elevators in any one year.

But perhaps we should salute elevators for they give us the potential to build vertically and save on precious land space, and they are remarkably energy efficient. Demand for elevators will surely rise as urban populations expand. The Otis Elevator Company claims that its products carry the equivalent of the world’s population every five days.

This article from the New Yorker is a good read - thanks to Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution for pointing me in its direction.

Lie down and think of the President

Sometimes you get an offer you cannot refuse. I wonder how many women of child-bearing age in the republic of Turkmenistan will be wondering whether to jump at the chance of the equivalent of £125 as a reward for taking the risk of conceiving and delivering more than eight children?

Malthus’ Revenge?

Food security is a growing issue to add to climate change, globalisation and meltdown in the financial markets as a cause for concern. Professor John Beddington, chief science adviser to the government, has warned that as the world’s population increases and grows wealthier, demand for food could outstrip supply ... are we returning to Malthusian misery?