In the most recent issue of Newsweek, Bill Clinton offers 14 ideas for creating jobs and reviving the economy. A few of the ideas, like corporate tax cuts (lower rates with fewer loopholes) and greater skills training, are conventional. But the rest are worth checking out. In particular, Clinton suggests a faster approval process for federal construction projects, environmental retrofitting for inefficient buildings (including buildings like schools and hospitals), and loan guarantees for banks to lend money to businesses to modernize buildings.

According to a new report from the National Federation of Independent Business, small businesses are still struggling under the weight of a poor economy:

In May, the share of companies that planned to shrink their work forces was one percentage point higher than the share of companies that planned to expand them, the first time since last September that this indicator was negative. And even though it was slightly negative, this index, a fairly reliable indicator of hiring decisions, has been trending downward all year.