I did a mental double take Friday morning while going through the business news wires. I actually came across some good economic news.

U.S. inflation for the 12 months ending in January was zero - the lowest reading for a 12-month period since August 1955 when prices actually fell by 0.4 percent.

Even better, the 12-month reading came despite consumer prices rising by 0.3 percent in January, the biggest monthly increase since last July.

Of course the rusty lining to that news is that prices aren't going up at all right now because no one is buying anything. But far be it for me to rain on the parade. It's like analysts telling us it's actually bad news that gasoline has come way down from $4 a gallon because it reflects the overall weakness in the global economy. Gas prices are lower now because there's less demand for fuel since there is less demand for anyone to make anything since no one is buying anyway.

You can't win for losing. It calls to mind President Harry Truman's whimsical wish for a one-armed economist who couldn't always say, "On the one hand this, on the other hand that."

Some more economic flotsam and jetsam from the past few weeks:

* The announced merger Feb. 10 of Ticketmaster, the world's largest ticketing company, with Live Nation, the largest concert promoter and venue operator, prompted our rock music critic Mark Brown to e-mail me the following: "Live Nation to acquire Ticketmaster for $2.5 billion, plus $700 million in convenience charges."

* Three remarks from a Maria Bartiromo interview in BusinessWeek with Amar Bhide, author of The Venturesome Economy: How Innovation Sustains Prosperity in a More Connected World:

* "I would rather have a slower recovery than try to accelerate the process and destroy the foundations of the free enterprise system."

* "This whole business of TARP reminded me a lot of the WMD business in Iraq: 'Oh my God, just trust us. There are these WMDs and unless you give us the authority right now to bomb them, disaster will befall us.' "

* "We have a more innovative society than at any time in history. There are people looking for opportunities, and they will lead us out of this. Anyone who thinks that's going to happen overnight or without pain is delusional. Anyone who thinks this is a bottomless pit is crazy too."

* You read and hear about all the U.S. manufacturing jobs that have been lost, and how so many of them have been outsourced. Still, according to an Associated Press story this week, the U.S. remains the world's leading manufacturer by value of goods produced. It hit a record $1.6 trillion in 2007 - double the $811 billion in 1987. For every $1 of value produced in China's factories, America generates $2.50.

* About 12.7 million Americans - 8 percent of the labor force - still held manufacturing jobs this January. Fifty years ago, that number was 14.6 million, or 28 percent of U.S. workers. Obviously, companies are doing more with less.

* Thirty years ago, U.S. producers made 80 percent of what the country consumed, according to the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI, an industry trade group. Now it's 65 percent.

* Loans to companies in bankruptcy - known as debtor-in-possession financing - have dropped from $7.9 billion in the second quarter last year to $2.9 billion in the fourth quarter, according to data provider Deal Pipeline. Without that financial lifeline, more businesses will abandon revival plans in favor of liquidation, BusinessWeek says.

* Of the 52 million U.S. homeowners with a mortgage, 27 percent - about 13.8 million - owe more on their mortgage than their house is now worth, according to Moody's Economy.com.

* Consultant Donald Straszheim told BusinessWeek, "Few sell-side stock analysts have any adult memory of past serious business cycles. They weren't even in the business yet."

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