Problems crop up when the grievance process is so complex and time- consuming that it stifles managers and employees.

There is growing pressure to revisit the policies of constraint that make it so hard to build new projects.

Thanks to a legislative change in tax policy, Mississippi will be able to staunch tax losses on out-of-state gambler income next year.

Tennessee held off buying Pacific Gas & Electric Co. bonds during the last year, aware that California's ongoing power crisis could cause a downgrade in the long-term credit rating for that state's utility. But Tennessee continued its historically conservative investments in PG&E's commercial paper, not expecting the company's rating to plunge in just a few short months.

A group of Southern tourist meccas, excluding Florida, is trying to better compete with the world's top tourist destinations, and their huge marketing bank accounts, by pooling its money. The cooperative effort is called the Southern International Marketing Coalition.