In the auto industry, there's one thing you can always count on: if a new environmental or safety rule is proposed, executives will prophesy disaster.

Of course, looking tough on inflation is part of any central banker's job description: if investors believe that inflation is going to get out of control, you end up with higher interest rates and capital flight, and a vicious circle quickly ensues.

Most of the work on multitasking suggests that it generally makes you less efficient, not more.

In conditions of uncertainty, humans, like other animals, herd together for protection.

Companies, like people, don't much like to change.

Corporate welfare isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Making loans and fighting poverty are normally two of the least glamorous pursuits around, but put the two together and you have an economic innovation that has become not just popular but downright chic. The innovation - microfinance - involves making small loans to poor entrepreneurs, usually in developing countries.