Some preliminary datasuggestthat people can do damage to their hearing with portable audio devices such as iPods, experts said, but more research needs to be done.
Some brain-imaging studies suggestthat people who regularly use the Internet become more skillful in tracking down data and some video games appear to help players improve visual acuity.
He says the crisis might have robbed us of some of that economic slack, but there is nothing in the recent data, including the productivity numbers, to suggestthat it has permanently destroyed as much of our potential as the OBR and others suggest.