Word: model
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...ennui with the great causes of the past, of course, does not translate into the sort of big C, red-in-tooth-and-claw conservatism familiar in the U.S. Labor market reform may be the watchword of European governments from Greece to Scandinavia, but defense of the "European social model" remains a potent rallying cry. Bush is still a figure of hate and ridicule. But something is happening in Europe, in its economics, social policies and beliefs. In the absence of big ideas, Europeans seem prepared to settle for conservatism - with a small...
...these days the Mercedes star has dimmed. Just ask Lyn Murphy, an IT consultant in Newnan, Ga. She is shopping for a new car to replace her BMW and is sorely tempted by the mid-range Mercedes E-Class model. "If I'm going to spend $40,000 on a car, I want you to know what I'm driving," she says bluntly. Yet Murphy, 42, has a nagging worry: she has been reading and hearing about all sorts of reliability problems afflicting recent Mercedes models, from engine failure to unsightly brake dust. "All my life I wanted to have...
...Mercedes now has to win back customer loyalty. That's not so quickly fixed as a mechanical problem. In the first eight months of this year, the firm sold 52,000 fewer E-Class cars worldwide than last year, a drop of 28%. Sales of its other best-selling model, the C-Class, were also down. The financial outlook is dreadful: even without counting $1.3 billion in losses at its Smart small-car subsidiary, Mercedes managed only a tiny operating profit for the first half of the year after a loss in the first quarter...
Middleman-free microlending has long been associated with developing countries. Why not bring the model online elsewhere, circumventing the traditional banking industry? That's the idea behind zopa.com a Web-based lending and borrowing exchange that connects those who want to lend with creditworthy people looking to borrow. Zopa serves as the platform, like eBay. The borrower simply pays a 1% fee to Zopa up front. Members have to be at least 18, have a credit rating and, for now, live in Britain. Zopa plans to open in the U.S. in 2006 and has had offers to take the service...
...Princeton is currently aware, the adjustment to any new grading system is bound to be rocky. Unlike Princeton’s gradual model, a drastic rescaling of grades would make it impossible to calculate a cumulative GPA for students spending part of their time under each system. Fortunately, fears that grade deflation place students’ futures at risk, in terms of graduate school admissions and job hunting, are largely unfounded, because Harvard’s spot in the limelight would make certain that any dramatic grading change, like the cap of A-grades at Princeton, would be widely publicized...