Here is a startling statistic: 49,895 businesses filed for bankruptcy in the US federal courts during the 12-month period ending September 2011. Think that’s a big number? It is - but it’s 14% lower than the number for the 12 months that ended in September 2010. In other words, business bankruptcies in the US have gone down despite a less-than-stellar economy. From a macro-economic perspective, that’s good news. From a micro-economic perspective (that is, your own personal business world), it’s only good if none of your key suppliers were among the companies going bust.