The problem is that the sort of thing that would lead to an economically meaningful increase in investment by big companies - which, as you will recall, are sitting on almost record amounts of cash - are in the box labelled "politically horrendous".

BBC: Britain��s investment crisis

The practice took off during the real-estate boom of the 2000s, as developers flush with cash, working with investment-hungry town governments, turned so-called underutilized properties into big-box retail stores and in many cases upscale residential-commercial developments.

WSJ: Battle of the Beach