History is littered with flawed forecasts on economic trends. And where some have proven to have been surprisingly accurate in their glimpse into the financial and economic future, these projections have usually been scorned, until too late.

nytimes.com : For decades, governments and non-governmental organizations have been trying to bring electricity to the world’s poorest and most isolated regions through million-dollar donations and large-scale projects. A small start-up company, headquartered in the Republic of Mauritius off the southeastern coast of Africa, is pursuing what it considers a different tack: a market-based approach, employing local villagers, selling rudimentary solar panels and focusing on small-scale, personal electricity use. Read the whole story: nytimes.com


 
 Morningstar Inc., an investment information provider, broke a Nasdaq rule that prohibits members of its board’s audit committee from getting direct or indirect compensation from the firm other than their board pay. Nasdaq determined that Morningstar audit committee member, Cheryl Francis, put the firm out of compliance when her two sons were living with her while they were interns at Morningstar. Their salaries could be considered indirect compensation, according to a Morningstar statement issued Friday.


 
 The federal budget deficit has surged to an all-time high of $1.42 trillion as the recession caused tax revenues to plunge while the government was spending massive amounts to stabilize the U.S. financial system and jump-start the economy. The imbalance for the budget year ended Sept.

The Hill : The Pentagon pays an average of $400 to put a gallon of fuel into a combat vehicle or aircraft in Afghanistan. The statistic is likely to play into the escalating debate in Congress over the cost of a war that entered its ninth year last week… Read the whole story: The Hill

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee boasted Friday that it out-raised its Republican counterpart for the third straight quarter, increasing its cash-on-hand advantage over the National Republican Senatorial Committee to $5 million. The DSCC raised $10.2 million in the third quarter, $1.5 million more than it raised in the third quarter of 2005. The DSCC was aided by an especially strong month of September, during which it outraised the NRSC by nearly $3 million

As part of its Bearing Witness 2.0 project , the Huffington Post is rounding up a few of the best local stories of the day. Mable Randon is suffering from the late stages of cancer. She’s bound by a wheel chair and only breathing with the help of an electrically-powered oxygen machine