The bottom line

Can the U.S. keep up?

Business executives are profoundly pessimistic about U.S. competitiveness, according to a new survey of more than 6,800 Harvard Business School alumni. Nearly six out of 10 respondents expected U.S. companies to be less able to compete in the global economy or less able to pay high wages, or both, over the next three years.

The Wall Street Journal

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Airlines spend billions on runway taxiing

The world’s airlines spend between $7 billion and $8 billion a year on jet fuel while taxiing between passenger gates and the runway.

The Economist

Americans exaggerate their working hours

Americans tend to exaggerate their weekly work hours by 5 to 10 percent, according to a recent study. Those who say they work 40 hours a week typically work closer to 37, while those who say they work more than 55 hours are usually off by more than 10 hours.

Harvard Business Review

The Dow Jones's 67.9 percent gain

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 67.9 percent between Obama’s inauguration and Oct. 19. That’s the fifth best performance among presidential first terms since 1900, after those of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Bill Clinton, and Dwight D. Eisenhower, all of whom were re-elected.

The New York Times

Success and summer babies

Summer babies are less likely to reach the C-suite. A study of 375 CEOs found that only 12 percent were born in June and July, while 23 percent were born in March and April. The discrepancy may have to do with cutoff dates U.S. schools use to determine when children start kindergarten. Summer babies are often among the youngest in their class, and older children tend to outperform them.

WSJ.com