This week, the Washington Post reported on a unique new newspaper in Southern Illinois. The Madison County Record was launched in September as a kind of local legal journal. Recent front pages have carried a variety of stories about lawsuits against businesses. What readers probably don't know is that the Record is a creation of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The Post story called the Madison County Record a weapon in the Chamber's multimillion-dollar campaign for 'tort reform'. The expose was written by Post reporter Jeff Birnbaum, who argues the Chamber is wielding a lot more power right now than many may suspect.

At a hotel in Washington tomorrow, several mayors from around the country plan to meet with business leaders to release an economic forecast for America's cities. But there's another item on the table: how cities can attract private investment. There's a growing sense that something's gotta give--because cities are giving away far too much to woo corporations. In the new edition of the New Yorker magazine, Economics writer James Surowiecki explains why Toledo, Ohio could be a turning point.