Best business commentary

Our gender happiness gap

Men are becoming happier. Women? Not so much, says David Leonhardt in The New York Times. In a sign of "just how incomplete the gender revolution has been," two new studies show "a growing happiness gap between men and women." Women have "flooded into the work force" in the past 30 years, but they report being less satisfied with their lives. What's changed? "Women now have a much longer to-do list," and they feel inadequate when they can't accomplish everything on it. Meanwhile, men learned to "work less and relax more." Maybe men should try shouldering "their fair share of the household burden," too.

A shot of confidence from abroad

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"Looking for a vote of confidence in the U.S. economy? Look abroad," says Andrew Schneider in Kiplinger.com. Foreign firms will invest $238 billion in U.S. business assets and domestic greenfield projects this year. That's the highest level since 2000, "at the peak of the dot-com boom." The U.S. is still "the top destination for cross-border business investment" because investing in the U.S. "pays off" over the long term. Most of the investment still comes from Europe and Japan, but developing countries like Taiwan and India are getting into the game. Who knows? "Bangalore may wind up farming out jobs to Leonia, N.J."