Word: balloon
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...numbers will worsen next year when the growth rate, now a feeble 2%, is expected to drop to almost zero, as rising prices for imported oil and increased foreign competition weaken the heavily export-based economy. The balance of payments deficit, which was $1 billion in 1979, will probably balloon this year to $20 billion, which would be the highest of any industrialized nation. West Germany has also accumulated a national debt so large-it now totals $231.8 billion -that it became a highly emotional issue during the recent election campaign. All of this has prompted many holders of marks...
...receives a formal invitation to return home--he speculates the public offer was merely a "trial balloon"--Aquino will give Marcos four "minimum demands." His conditions are restoration of freedom of the press, freedom of assembly for students, labor's right to strike and "honest, clean, orderly elections...
Some escapes have been ingenious. Last year two families fashioned a homemade hot air balloon out of bedsheets and curtain strips and sailed silently over the fence to freedom by night in the southern border sector. But most who manage to get across today are either disaffected members of the 42,000-strong East German border guard force or people living near the border who are told by sympathetic guards about spots along the fence where mines have been temporarily removed for maintenance. In May a young couple scrambled over the fence at an unmined spot in the central sector...
Even in the more rational horse latitudes of Boston, balloonery is booming. Joanne Williams, a former producer of children's television shows, unleashed Balloons Over Boston 13 months ago, is already grossing $100,000 a year and expects to earn $250,000 next year. As the official balloon provider for Boston's 350th anniversary, she lofted her airborne wares over the aquarium, parks and city hall. Among her regular clients is Opera Director Sarah Caldwell, who, says Wiliams, "balloons people regularly." Wiliams' deliveries come with cards telling he recipient all about the care and feeding of balloons...
...oldest and perhaps the most successful balloon business is also Boston based. Headed by Joe Del Vecchio, whose grandfather began selling balloons when he came to the city from Italy at the turn of the century, Balloon Bouquets now has 14 affiliates throughout the U.S. and prides itself on Mom-and-Pop-style personal service. In September Del Vecchio will be offering Balloon Bouquet franchises nationwide...