Photo by RichSeattle, used with permission

A Suffolk econ professor conducted a study on sweatshops asserting that workers' alternatives are much worse--but didn't propose solutions for improving conditions. [Library of Economics and Liberty]

The gap between rich and poor is growing--and it's connected to a variety of factors, including health, social capital, crime rates, and political efficiency. Basically, inequality is bad for society as a whole, no matter which side of the gap you're on. Also, the disparity in incomes in the U.S. may be due in part to our (potentially misguided) belief in equality of opportunity as more important than equality of outcomes. [Harvard Magazine]

Did you know you can scratch through your skull? Neither did one woman who accomplished exactly that. (Shudder.) [New Yorker]

Obama's support for privately funding public housing in Chicago hasn't worked out so well. The Boston Review has more detail on the history of housing policy and its effect on urban communities. [Globe]

Multi-tasking is melting our brains--and our productivity. [The New Atlantis]

Weeds are the future. Better suited than other plants to growing in global warming conditions (higher concentrations of CO2 and other gases), weeds may prove useful in combating the very factors that enable their growth. [New York Times Magazine]