By Michael Santoli

For decades, politicians spanning the full ideological spectrum paid devotional lip service to the "family farmer." Today, the economic bloc that is patronized most avidly by Democrats and Republicans alike is "small business," shorthand for honest business people whose work ethic and risk taking magically generate most of the country's new jobs.

Doesn't it figure, though, that in this cutthroat campaign, the one thing both sides seem to agree on turns out not really to be true?

Small businesses, in aggregate, do produce most of the new jobs in the country. But they also destroy almost as many as they create, as Bloomberg News recently noted. The attrition rate of smaller enterprises is pretty high, after all, thanks to the immutable laws of capitalism.

From 1990 through 2011, companies with 500 or more employees were responsible for 65% of net job gains, accounting for 45% of total employment on average during that span, and paying more than half of total

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Having survived the hurricane (with scars), New York and New Jersey are now afflicted with massive gas lines.

In some places, these lines are reportedly many hours long. They're reminding people of the energy crisis of the 1970s.

That crisis, you will recall, was caused by a disruption in oil supply from the Middle East. In other words, it was a supply problem.

Related: Hurricane Sandy Ranks Among the Worst Economic Disasters: Mark Zandi

So, what's causing the lines this time?

We asked folks on Twitter. Here are some of the (sensible) theories that came back:

• There's still no power in many areas, so everyone needs gas to run their generators (DEMAND)
• There's still no power in many areas, and gas stations can't pump without power. This has increased the load on the stations that do have power and sucked their tanks dry. (SUPPLY)
• There's limited public transportation, so everyone has to drive (DEMAND)
• Everyone's panicked that they'll run out of gas

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Superstorm Sandy will ultimately be known as one of the costliest economic disasters ever experienced in the U.S. An estimated $50 billion will be lost as a result of the storm, says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics.

Only Katrina, 9/11 and Hurricane Andrew suffered bigger economic losses, he says.

In a teleconference and webcast this morning, Zandi estimated that Sandy will cost $30 billion in damages to households, businesses and infrastructure and $20 billion in lost output from business, transportation, health care, government and other services.

He cautioned that these s figures are "very preliminary estimates" and total losses ultimately could be higher.

The storm affected a land mass running from Washington, DC through Maine, killing more than 50 people, wiping out homes and boardwalks along the Jersey Shore. It flooded homes and roads throughout the region as well as subways and tunnels crossing under the Hudson and the East

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It's auto sales day and Ford made a big splash by announcing its succession plan: Alan Mulally will stay on as CEO until at least 2014 and Mark Fields has been named COO, putting him in line to be Mulally's eventual replacement.

"Like most of what Alan Mulally has done at Ford, the naming of Mark Fields as his successor looks like an orderly, no-drama pick," says Justin Hyde, senior editor of Yahoo!'s Motoramic blog. "With Ford making huge profits everywhere outside of Europe, and its vehicles being generally well-received around the world, there's no external pressure on Mulally to leave, and the Ford family itself remains a huge fan."

Related: Ford To Add 12,000 Workers: An All-American Comeback Story

According to Ford's statement:

"Mulally will continue leading the long-term strategic development of the One Ford plan and its continuous improvement. Fields will be responsible for all business operations. Fields will continue to report to Mulally,

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China's manufacturing sector grew to a four-moth high in October, a level suggesting the world's second largest economy is in expansion mode. The official Purchasing Manager's Index rose to 50.2 last month versus 49.8 in September; a number above 50 indicates expansion.

"Good news slightly up several tenths to a little above 50 for a world that is hypersensitive to each little twitter in these numbers," says Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi. "But it is hard to interpret. China has already achieved the economies of scale to supply lower-cost goods to the rest of the world."

Related: China's Slow Growth 'Marks An End of an Era' but No Hard Landing

Miller Tabak's Peter Boockvar writes, "While in line with expectations at 50.2, the Shanghai index breathed a sigh of relief that it went back above 50, and that was the catalyst for the 1.7% rally. New orders also rose back above 50 and employment was up a touch."

While

Provided by Business Insider's Matthew Boesler

Perhaps the most bullish indicator for U.S. housing is Warren Buffett.

The legendary investor has been buying up real-estate brokerages around the country as he bets on a housing turnaround. Now, he is partnering with Brookfield Asset Management, a Canadian real-estate investor, to more than double the size of his brokerage business.

Bloomberg Businessweek's Noah Buhayar has the details:

Berkshire's HomeServices of America Inc. unit will be the majority owner of the venture to manage a U.S. residential real-estate affiliate network, according to a statement on the new company's website. The firms plan to offer a new franchise brand, Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, starting next year. Brookfield's network has operated under the Prudential Real Estate and Real Living Real Estate brands.

Berkshire's managers have been positioning the firm to benefit as the U.S. home market recovers from its worst slump in seven decades. The Omaha,

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The reviews for Apple's new "iPad Mini" are out, and they're generally very good.

Most reviewers like the form factor (light and small) and are bummed about the screen resolution--because they've gotten used to the super-precise "retina" screens on Apple's latest iPhones and high-end iPads. Normal people who haven't gotten used to the retina screens will likely be perfectly happy with the Mini's screen. And, for many people, the size and weight may actually be an improvement over the bigger iPads.

Related: Apple's New iPad Mini Is Pricey But That Won't Deter Fans: TechCrunch's John Biggs

One of the smartest and most influential Apple analysts, John Gruber of Daring Fireball, predicts that the iPad Mini will become the best-selling iPad.

Gruber prefers the smaller size and weight of the Mini because he uses his iPad primarily for reading. He also observes that the size is much better for traveling and for kids, for whom the full-size iPad is

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, families and local shops are trying to resume business as usual. But with no power or transportation, that's a task more easily considered than done.

Economists have been estimating that Sandy could cost the U.S. economy as much as $20 billion in damages and possibly another $30 billion in lost business. Moody's estimates a loss of $30 billion to $50 billion.

More than 14,000 flights have been canceled since Sandy, hurting airlines such as JetBlue (JBLU), Delta (DAL) and United (UAL). Some are estimating that insurers will have to take losses, since there were 284,000 homes -- or $88 billion -- in the way of Sandy. Large power refineries were shut down because of the storm, which could make gas scarce in the coming months. The auto industry could also struggle as a result of Sandy; GM (GM) and Ford (F) estimated that they will lose sales in the Northeast.

The area of the U.S. hit by Hurricane Sandy creates $10 billion in GDP a day. The Daily Ticker went