The bottom line

Let's follow through in 2014

Failing to follow through on New Year’s resolutions can bear a cost. According to a survey by corporate training firm Vital Research, nearly 70 percent of people who don’t stick to their goals wind up forfeiting more than $1,000 each in lost promotions, avoidable health-care costs, and other unforeseeable expenses.

CNN.com

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Coal to overtake oil

Coal is expected to overtake oil as the world’s dominant fuel source by 2020, according to a study by consultant Wood Mackenzie, with two thirds of its growth driven solely by surging demand from coal-driven power plants providing electricity in China.

The Wall Street Journal

Sequester hurts home energy assistance

Thanks to sequester cuts, about 300,000 low-income families lost federal subsidies—offered under the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program—to help pay their heating bills during this week’s record-breaking cold snap.

MSNBC.com

A first for Duke's economics department

For the first time ever, female economics doctoral candidates at Duke University will outnumber their male counterparts. Almost two thirds of the incoming class will be women, bringing the school far above the national average, in which women make up just over 30 percent of entering economics doctoral candidates.

WSJ.com

The cost of overachieving

British researchers say workaholics often suffer from compulsive behaviors, irregular sleeping and eating patterns, and relationship stress. Overachievers are also prone to Internet addiction and “burn out more quickly” on the job than their less motivated colleagues.

The Telegraph (U.K.)