with little forward momentum or die namism. and they know we could be doing much better. much better than we are today. corporate profits peaked some quarters ago. capital expenditures are down. relative to prior years. new small businesses are forming at the lowest rate in many years. they can't find the capital to get organized. for those that do have the capital, there's little reason to make big new investments that demand at home and especially a-- the demand at home and especially abroad isn't there. for companies depending on exports, the strong dollar and weak growth abroad make them less competitive. for companies and countries that depend on the production, sale, and movement of energy and commodities, they saw the bottom drop out of the prices last year. how much lower will they go this year? most of our businesses would like nothing better than to pay their employees more, hire more of them, and provide better benefits. but the current economy and the current government policies are making that very difficult. just one example. compliance with obamacare is cos