The American economy in January could get frost bite. Economists often argue that the cold typically defers activity rather than destroys it, but not always.

A high-profile activist investor’s latest use of the megaphone is to call for an iconic tech firm to split up. Carl Icahn wants eBay to spin off PayPal, separating the online auction site from the digital payment service. eBay’s CEO wants to hang onto PayPal. He says keeping it provides that enduring corporate buzzword: synergy.

For many people, the rise and expansion of the “sharing economy” or “peer economy,” has made life cheaper and easier. The companies that facilitate this economy have allowed us to rent everything from apartments, to cars, to designer handbags. Proponents of the shared economy argue that it is both democratic and democratizing, but some companies may be replicating problems that exist in the traditional economy, according to research from two Harvard Business School professors who looked into Airbnb, a company that connects people looking to rent out a room, apartment or house, with those looking for a place to stay.