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Americans are considering national education standards recently developed by teachers and other education experts. The National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers led the effort. The United States, unlike other nations, has never had the same school standards across the country. The reason? Education is not discussed in the Constitution. That document limits the responsibilities of the federal government. Other responsibilities, like education, fall to the individual states. Local control of education probably was a good idea two hundred years ago. People stayed... 

Two new studies have investigated why fewer females, compared to males, study and work in the so called STEM subjects in the United States. Those subjects are science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The American Association of University Women examined existing research. Its report, called Why So Few?, also suggested ways to interest more girls and women in the STEM fields. The researchers found that cultural and environmental factors make a difference. Researcher Christianne Corbett says more boys than girls score very high on math tests in most countries. She says Iceland and Thailand are... 

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The book industry is trying to get a good read on its future. These days, instead of turning paper pages, many readers reach for handheld devices. These electronic readers not only store books to show on a screen, they can also read them out loud. In July, Amazon lowered the price of its Kindle reader by sixty dollars to just under three hundred dollars. The device can download books wirelessly from a store on Amazon's Web site. Most new releases and bestsellers cost nine dollars and ninety-nine cents. Newspapers, magazines and other services are available for a monthly charge. Buyers of e-books... 

The recession may be easing, but American states are still feeling the pain. Most of the fifty states began their budget year July first. Almost all states require balanced budgets. Already, some predict new deficits. Congress included state aid in the two-year stimulus plan approved in February. But states have had to find other ways to fill budget holes. The recession has hit especially hard in California, home of the world's eighth largest economy and one out of eight Americans. In August, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a new budget to solve his state's deficit. The budget... 

American Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has announced plans for a «distracted driving summit» in September in Washington. Transportation and law enforcement officials, safety activists and others will discuss how to deal with drivers who do other things as they drive. Talking on the phone has long been an issue. But text-messaging while driving has gained more attention recently following a number of deadly crashes. Right now, though, distracted driving is not the only thing Secretary LaHood has to think about. For the first time in many months, large numbers of Americans have... 

President Obama is letting Congress write the details of his plan for what he calls health insurance reform. Congress was on vacation in August. But members held what are known as town hall meetings around the country to hear reaction. And they have been getting an earful from crowds for and against the plan. The president, at his own meetings, pointed back to the nineteen nineties. He said: «Every time we come close to passing health insurance reform, the special interests fight back with everything they've got.» Some objections are based on cost estimates from an independent... 

Stock prices took a roller-coaster ride in August — down one day, up the next. Experts say the situation is likely to continue until investors feel more sure about signs of economic recovery. Some investors worry that Americans are not doing enough to lift the world's largest economy out of recession. This is back-to-school season. But the National Retail Federation says school-related sales are down from last year. Consumer spending is seventy percent of the economic activity in the United States. But consumer confidence a measure of trust in the economy — fell unexpectedly... 

The government says the United States economy shrank at an annual rate of one percent in April, May and June. The decrease was less than expected, and much less than at the start of the year. The improvement was partly the result of increased government spending. Another report showed a small drop in the number of newly jobless workers. There was also a drop in the number of people on long-term unemployment assistance. In August, President Obama nominated Ben Bernanke for a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve. His current four years end in January. Mister Obama said: «Ben approached... 

The American housing collapse was a major cause of the recession. The housing market is showing new life after three years of falling prices and too much supply. But now there are worries that banks could face big losses next on business properties. For example, one effect of a weak economy is less demand for office space. As a result, property owners earn less and charge less in rent. This puts pressure especially on owners who borrowed a lot of money. Easy credit helped fuel an explosion of development. The market hit a high point in two thousand seven. Now, late payments are growing. Almost... 

The world's largest drug company has agreed to pay almost two and a half billion dollars for illegal marketing of medicines. The settlement between Pfizer and the United States Justice Department was announced in September. The settlement is the nation's largest ever in a case of health care fraud. It also includes the largest criminal fine ever in any case in the United States, more than one billion dollars. Pfizer agreed to pay another billion dollars for violations of a civil law, the False Claims Act. Pfizer, based in New York, had sales last year of forty-eight billion dollars.... 

One year ago, the United States financial system was in danger of collapse. One of Wall Street's oldest investment houses had just sought protection from its creditors. The Lehman Brothers bankruptcy on September fifteenth was a shock to the system, but not the only one. A week earlier, the government had seized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These companies help finance most American housing loans. And one day after Lehman's failure, the government decided that the huge insurer A.I.G. was too big to fail. The Federal Reserve rescued the American International Group with an eighty-five billion... 

«Information wants to be free,» the saying goes. But the debate over net neutrality could define how free the exchange of information is going to be in the future. Net neutrality is the idea that everything on the Internet should be treated equally. That sounds simple. But the issue is a complex mix of technical, business, political and legal questions. In the United States, communication law is enforced by the Federal Communications Commission. Since two thousand five, the FCC has used four policy principles to guide its enforcement in cases related to the Internet. The policy statement... 

In September, the Group of 20 met in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was the third Group of 20 summit in less than a year. Leaders of the major developed and developing economies discussed ways to fix the world financial system. In April they had agreed to do everything necessary to prevent a collapse. This time they noted their success, but warned that the «process of recovery and repair remains incomplete.» The presidents and prime ministers launched what they called a Framework for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth. At the same time, they agreed to make the G20 the main group... 

Over half the world's people now live in cities. The latest «Global Report on Human Settlements» says the historic change took place last year. The report came out in October from U.N. Habitat, a United Nations agency. A century ago, fewer than five percent of all people lived in cities. By the middle of this century it could be seventy percent, or almost six and a half billion people. Already three-fourths of people in developed countries live in cities. Now most urban population growth is in the developing world. Urbanization can lead to social and economic progress, but also...