Unlike current western conceptualizations of the netherworld, Viking hell was thought to be cold not hot. The Polar Vortex sweeping across the United States has caused at least some of our staff to think that they may well have had a point. Steve Goldstein wrote about what this means for the American economy:

• Cold weather leads to increased sales of winter apparel.
• However this is offset by the decrease in other types of economic activity such as construction.
• Overall for every 100 degree Fahrenheit deviation between 65 degrees and the average temperature on a given day, GDP decreases by roughly 0.4%.
• The weather in January could cause a 0.5% drop.

Read more about America’s relatively good hurricane season and more over here.

Source: The Wall Street Journal