Your customized headlines for Mon, Mar 12, 2012

BEIJING — While the U.S. trade deficit with China continues to soar, a surge in U.S. exports is emerging as a bright spot in the often-troubled trade ties between the world's largest economy and its largest foreign creditor.

When I was in high school back in the early 1970s, I dreamed of becoming a professional basketball player. If I could do it over, I would dream of becoming a top software engineer — like David Rosenthal.

The skyline around the Washington region is poised to soar higher in the coming years as an increasing number of construction projects bring ever-taller buildings to neighborhoods and commercial centers from North Bethesda to Rosslyn to the District. ¶ But while these buildings are sure to alter the skyline, they also signify a more fundamental shift in the way people live life on the ground. ¶

The number of new suppliers to the U.S. government fell 14 percent last year even as the Obama administration sought to increase competition in contracting.

Contract awards in the year that ended Sept. 30 went to about 29,800 companies that hadn't done business with the government in seven years, compared with 34,800 in fiscal 2010, according to procurement data.

Political dynasties have persisted in democratic countries, as those with family political ties still make up about 6 percent of the members of Congress and up to 40 percent of the legislature in Mexico and the Philippines, UNICEF economist Ronald Mendoza notes in a new paper for VoxEU. In certain ways, these dynasties exacerbate existing economic inequality and make political power less democratic, reducing access to political power among those who don't have the privilege of politically connected families and the wealth that often comes with them. In the Philippines, for example, Mendoza finds that political dynasties are most prevalent in the poorest areas of the countries.