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Job Losses:
533,000
in November

Employers cut record-breaking numbers of jobs across industries, from construction to finance to retail, according to this morning's Labor Dept. announcment

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After being pilloried for flying corporate jets to Washington to beg for public funds to keep their companies afloat, Detroit executives are making the second trip to the capital by car.

—David Welch, The Auto Beat

I've been pretty sure for a while that the recession started in late 2007. Back in March 2008, I predicted on this blog that the official start date of the recession was going to turn out to be November 2007.

—Michael Mandel, Economics Unbound

Hank Paulson told a conference: "It's our fault that we let the system get so out of balance that it took a crisis like this to get us to figure out how to get it back in balance again."

—Theo Francis, Election 2008

The buzz was that Nokia was building a laptop computer. But what it was really building was the N97 smartphone, which looks very much like a laptop, albeit one that fits in your pocket.

—Jack Ewing, Europe Insight

Russia's Skolkovo business school—a project being backed by some of the country's top businessmen—has begun taking applications for its first full-time MBA class.

—Phil Mintz, Getting In

Former AIG chief Hank Greenberg has railed against the Fed's bailout of the insurer ever since the deal was struck in early September.

—Diane Brady, Management IQ

The mergers-and-acquisitions market has slowed down so much it's almost in reverse. According to Thomson Reuters, the size of M&A deals canceled in the fourth quarter now almost matches the M&A activity actually completed.

—Ben Steverman, Investing Insights

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IN YOUR FACE: ETHANOL MYTHS AND REALITIES

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Reader That Guy Writes:

"I work in the ethanol industry. It is not the answer to all our problems, but it does help and it is locally produced in the U.S. giving hardworking Americans jobs."

Bright Future for Ethanol? Check Out Business Exchange