Finally, there are no short-cuts. We currently must adjust from a misallocation of resources. There is no way to avoid some short-term pain in fixing the fundamentals in our economy. It is inconvenient for the election cycle, and it is undeniably terrible to have at least 10 percent of the labor force out of work. But short cuts now mean people out of work again in only a few years because we again try and avoid difficult adjustments. Outlining a credible course for managing our debt for the future will accelerate the restoration of confidence in our economy and contribute importantly to sustainable capital investment and job growth.

Warren businessman Gus Polychronis, who is trying to put together local investors to make a bid for the two Trumbull County hospitals, said he believes Ardent's bid is a ''lowball'' offer, but that the creditors have limited their options by insisting on a cash deal. ''If they're smart business people, you know it's a lowball bid,'' Polychronis said. ''They have cash-in-pocket and no competition. They can dictate the deal, unless it's so unrealistic that it's not acceptable.''

[HCA's] move follows on dividend recaps from a ton of other health-care companies, including fellow hospital operators Vanguard Health Systems Inc. and Iasis Healthcare, as well as pharmaceutical services company Quintiles Transanational Corp., making us think this entire sector is hunkering down to wait out the health-care storm. We know where they can get a good snow plow afterwards.

President Barack Obama called yesterday to limit the size and trading activities of banks to reduce risk-taking and prevent another financial crisis. Banks may be taking advantage of renewed confidence in the financial sector to raise capital before new regulations take effect, said Rajeev Sharma, a portfolio manager at First Investors Management in New York.

“There is still a lot of uncertainty with what will happen with banks in the backdrop of this financial reform,” said Sharma, who helps oversee about $1.4 billion of investment-grade bonds. “As long as these reforms are still proposals, there’s a good opportunity to get in the market now.”