This planet has finite stores of energy and resources, and has finite room for expansion and growth. It may be a bit outlandish to talk about a space economy in terms of the Starfleet Federation just yet, but there is no doubting the unlimited potential of expanding a commercial economy into space.

The Afghan "goldmine" that was "discovered" this week by American military contracts is... a joke. It is also old news. Though, it did succeed in distracting us for a few days from all the men who died in that country this week, not to mention to continued uselessness of the military in dealing with the oil spill. So I guess that's good right?

The Big Three will require many years of these incremental gains to retake the top spot in the U.S., but a shift in consumer confidence is a good starting point. Now, we must hope that more Americans start to understand the fundaments of import-export economics and see that American cars aren’t just equivalent or better products, they are the only rational selection to make.

It is no secret that many in the United States look to high-speed rail as a sort of economic salvation. The idea that we can completely remake our economy by dedicating our productive output toward next generation passenger trains is a bit overzealous. Nonetheless, high-speed rail could be a huge part of any comprehensive stimulus, job, and recovery program enacted by the government.