Yesterday Thomas Friedman mentioned the idea of revamping Sarbanes-Oxley to make it easier to start a small business.  But what does a law aimed at requirements for public companies have to do with starting a small business? Read my post at Capital Commerce.

Liquidations are back in the news again, with this AP story tracing where alleged Ponzi schemer R. Allen Stanford's furniture ended up. AMC Liquidators of Fort Lauderdale, Florida has been selling his stuff off:

Michael Grimme is the owner of AMC. His business specializes in emptying hotels, offices and stores of unwanted furnishings and then reselling them. Business is up in recent years due to bankruptcies and downsizing. AMC is among many companies that have flourished during the downturn because even the wealthy have fallen on hard times. Repossessors take back yachts, planes and luxury cars, and even pawn shops have seen a rise in rich folks selling items.

Related to this topic are going-out-of-business and liquidation sales, the latter of which are run by companies like AMC. Companies going out of business like Circuit City turned to liquidator companies when they were clearing out stores a few months ago. Consumers saw that there wasn't much reason to rush to these "deals." Check out my article on what consumers should know about these sales and similar ones.

Perhaps the strangest small business I've ever blogged about is no more. Yesterday morning, the small-town Maine coffee shop that made headlines for its revealing staff burned to the ground, CNN reports.

Authorities say it was an act of arson. There was no business insurance to cash in on.  Was this the work of some crazed pyromaniac? Someone trying to make a political or moral statement? Both?

Over at Capital Commerce, check out how the federal government is driving jobs in U.S. cities, and some more thoughts on the GM takeover and the meaning of "socialist" policies.

Over at Capital Commerce, I muse about the credit card bill Obama just signed into law.

People are calling the government takeover of GM an example of renewed industrial policy.  Good thing or bad thing?

See my post over at Capital Commerce.