Toys "R" Us Inc., which somehow managed to sustain a crushing debt load for more than a decade after its 2005 buyout, finally succumbed last week to a "dangerous game of dominoes" that toppled the retailer in a matter of days.

One might think that the auto industry favors weaker greenhouse gas emissions and fuel efficiency standards, or at least the penalties set forth for non-compliance. But what it really favors are standards that are economically achievable and a definite set of rules for it to follow.

The Wall Street Journal, among many other media outlets, recently reported with typical bemusement the low inflation that "defies a growing economy."