The conclusion I draw from Walmart v. Dukes is that Ginsburg thinks the only fair way to run a large organization is the way government runs civil service. Anyone with experience in the real world can tell you that an organization run this way wouldn't be as efficient or do as good a job of satisfying consumers' wants.

How can a country that aspires to be a global power be scared of a big-box store? It's a question worth pondering as New Delhi's long-delayed decision last week to open the retail business to foreign investors unleashes a predictable firestorm of protest.

Supercommittee Republicans offered a plan to eliminate tax preferences and reduce tax rates, as in the 1986 bipartisan tax reform. They argued that high tax rates would squelch economic growth.  They didn't make the case that their proposals would also address income inequality. But Paul Ryan, in a paper based largely on a CBO analysis of income trends between 1979 and 2007, has done so.

2012 may well be the year that India's economy returns to a familiar place—as an Asian laggard overshadowed by its East Asian peers and largely ignored by the rest of the world.

When candidates flip-flop, their poll numbers suffer, but when countries flip-flop, entire economies suffer. This scenario is playing out in India after the government flip-flopped on its decision to allow retail giants such as Wal-Mart to own a majority 51% stake in joint operations with a local partner.

For months, former senator Rick Santorum has been talking about working-class woes and promoting a working-class-friendly economic agenda.

Income inequality has been increasing, according to standard statistics, yet most Americans do not seem perturbed by it.