The difference is that there was no formal VC class back then: merely investment-minded second-tier deal-makers who did their wheeling and dealing in the interstices of the stock market, Robber Baron and small-entrepreneur worlds.

FORBES: Entrepreneurs are the New Labor: Part II

These countries all have high aspirations, highly competitive school systems, and an emphasis on whole-class, formal teaching.

BBC: NEWS | UK | Education | What Kelly does next

An ESM bailout would classify Spain as a second-class borrower in a formal sense and actually delay its rehabilitation.

BBC: Messy Spanish rescue

One big earlier study called CLASS "was not designed for formal assessment of cardiovascular events, " they note.

FORBES: More Pain For Pfizer

On a trip to France, Russia's president, Dmitry Medvedev, started formal talks on the sale of up to four Mistral-class warships, while France's GDF Suez gained a 9% stake in the Nord Stream pipeline.

ECONOMIST: Energy security in Europe

Between 2003 and 2011, about 30 million Brazilians joined the so-called "new middle class, " earning between GBP100 and GBP400 per capita per month, and gaining access to formal sector employment, credit, and the country's large consumer market.

CNN: Does Brazil deserve its 'B' for BRIC?