Disaster

On Friday the Department of Commerce will report August retail sales, a material report which all else equal, may influence whether the Fed proceeds with its plans to unveil balance sheet tapering in its upcoming FOMC meeting. However, as we discussed last week, the report, together with virtually all other high frequency economic reports, will be materially distorted by the destructive aftermath of hurricane Harvey (Irma's impact will be felt in the September retail report).

Complex systems are all around us.

By one definition, a complex system is any system that features a large number of interacting components (agents, processes, etc.) whose aggregate activity is nonlinear (not derivable from the summations of the activity of individual components) and typically exhibits hierarchical self-organization under selective pressures.

If the Titanic sailed today, it would have an electric engine.

As it traversed the state of Florida, Hurricane (now tropical depression) Irma left a trail of destruction not seen since Hurricane Andrew hammered the state in 1992. But despite the rising death toll, historic flooding and a ruined power grid that could take weeks to repair, meteorologists say Floridians should consider themselves fortunate.

Because it could’ve been much, much worse.

The National Hurricane Center downgraded Irma to a Tropical Depression late Monday night, but even in its weakened state, the storm continues to cause deadly storm surges and volatile winds as it travels through Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina, flooding downtown Charleston, South Carolina and uprooting trees in Atlanta, according to CNN.

Meanwhile, authorities have confirmed 11 deaths from the storm.