Our Fly Smart philosophy is about investing only on those points of differentiation that pay for themselves, that earn a revenue premium commensurate with what it costs us to provide that product or service.

The executive moves we are announcing today will strengthen American for the long-term future and reflect well on the depth of the Company's management team.

Just to cover the increase in fuel costs over the past two years, American would have had to raise fares nearly $75 per round-trip ticket. During this time period, our average fare increased by only $15.

But I definitely see us playing a major role in St. Louis in the years to come. We already provide service to 95 percent of the markets St. Louis travelers visit the most. And we're adding capacity in some of the most important markets.

They explained to me that the bank cannot lend money to poor people because these people are not creditworthy.

The secrecy surrounding wealth and the anxiety of talking about money is absurd. If you are rich and you live well and you spend money and it is an essential part of your lifestyle, then you shouldn't be ashamed of talking about it. You shouldn't be ashamed of it. And I think you should accept it and be honest and open about it.

It's because finance is so baffling that makes being an economist such a safe option. It nestles down comfortably with psychiatry and astrology as a profession where getting it patently wrong is just not a problem - and also, rather wonderfully, seems to have no adverse affect on their professional standing whatsoever.

Economists are coming to acknowledge that measures of national wealth and poverty in terms strictly of average income tell you little that is significant of the health or viability of a society.