The weekend is a great time to catch up on some of the reading you skipped during the week. We hope you enjoy this set of long-form links.
Investing
Self-enhancing transmission bias or why traders like to brag. (The Psy-Fi Blog)
A recap of a recent Howard Marks speech. (Distressed Debt Investing)
The truth about Ric Edelman. (Financial Advisor via Ritholtz)
Economics
Can economic growth continue indefinitely? An economist and physicist debate. (Do the Math via The Browser)
Why US crude oil refineries are closing even with $4 gasoline. (FT)
The very early history of corporate America shows the influence of banks. (Bloomberg)
Business
Steve Blank, “Start-ups aren’t smaller version of large companies. You can’t put execution strategy on top of a start-up and expect to succeed.” (The Atlantic)
The rise and fall of Avon Products ($AVP). (Fortune)
How some Japanese companies have learn to thrive amidst a lost decade. (FT)
Psychology
Jonah Lehrer picks five books on decision making. (The Browser)
People don’t save in part because they can’t see their future selves. (The Psy-Fi Blog)
Is Facebook making us lonely? (The Atlantic)
How to quit your cookie habit. (Big Think)
Profiles
Matt Groenig looks back on 25 years of The Simpsons. (Smithsonian)
Meet the Finnish metal star who inspired Guns ‘n Roses. (WSJ)
Inside the world of a Hollywood stylist. (GQ)
The rise and fall of superagent Leigh Steinberg. (SI via @longform)
Sports
Why star athletes like Kobe Bryant are traveling to Germany to undergo new “biologic medicine.” (Grantland)
How statistics may change mixed martial arts. (Boston via @longreads)
The lost founder of baseball video games. (Grantland)
Mixed media
The Camorra never sleeps. (Vanity Fair)
The crisis in American walking. (Slate)
What color is your fire truck? (WSJ)
Five lessons from Mike Wallace for the rest of us. (Eric Jackson)
Book excerpts
Jonah Lehrer talks with Eric Kandel about his new book The Age of Insight: The Quest to Understand the Unconscious in Art, Mind and Brain, from Vienna 1900 to the Present. (The Frontal Cortex)
How US airport security became broken and how to fix it. An excerpt from Permanent Emergency: Inside the TSA and Fight for the Future of American Security by Kip Hawley. (WSJ)
Six rules for eating out: an excerpt from Tyler Cowen’s An Economist Gets Lunch: New Rules for Everyday Foodies. (The Atlantic)
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