Here’s a surprise: Chinese law requires greater automotive fuel efficiency than American regulations. Although we’re not comparing Granny Smiths to Mandarin oranges– China uses a weight ratio, the US uses categories– it’s roughly 36 to 24mpg in favor of the Chinese. You’d expect this sort of disparity from Europe, Australia, Japan and Canada. But China? How can that be? In automotive terms, China’s just waking up. Or is it that the US is still asleep?

Every industry craves a hit, whether it’s a bestseller, a summer blockbuster or 300k crossovers off a Canadian assembly line. It is, however, only one way to make a buck. According to “The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More,” consumers are quickly evolving beyond cookie-cutter mass consumption. In fact, a careful reading of Wired editor Chris Anderson’s tome indicates that the days when a single vehicle could “save” a company may be long gone. Automakers who want to survive must now chase the tail of the dragon.

Peter F. Drucker grew up in Frankfurt just as the Nazis gathered power. When Hitler was elected Chancellor, the future business guru fled for England, watching the storm clouds of centralized power in his rearview mirror. No wonder the concept of decentralization became one of Drucker’s first and more useful contributions to American business theory. Drucker and his beliefs came to prominence with the publication of "Concept of the Corporation" in 1946. Hard to believe, but the landmark work was based on 18 months Drucker spent studying General Motors.

General Motors has a monkey on its back: another monkey. Actually, three point one monkeys. Writing in the August issue of The New Yorker magazine, Malcolm “Tipping Point” Gladwell explored the possibility that GM’s need to support an enormous population of retired workers is dragging the company into the abyss. Although it’s not exactly a new idea, Mr. “Blink” applied a new tool to the job: the dependency ratio.