The world's central banks and the International Monetary Fund still have vaults full of bullion, even though currencies are no longer backed by gold. Governments hold on to it as a kind of magic symbol, a way of reassuring people that their money is real.

Most corporate name changes are the result of mergers and acquisitions. But these tend to be unimaginative.

Developing countries often have hypertrophied bureaucracies, requiring businesses to deal with enormous amounts of red tape.

In confusing stock options with ownership, corporations confuse trappings with substance.

Downsizing itself is an inevitable part of any creatively destructive economy.

Companies often become victims of their own mythologies.

Discussions of health care in the U.S. usually focus on insurance companies, but, whatever their problems, they're not the main driver of health-care inflation: providers are.