Central government debt tends to rise over 85% in real terms during the first three years after a banking crisis.

WSJ: Opinion: Expect a Prolonged Slump

He switched parties in 1996, three years into the first of his two terms as mayor of St Paul, as he became more fond of pro-business pragmatism than of protest politics.

ECONOMIST: The Republicans stand a chance of unseating Paul Wellstone

She was the UK's first female prime minister and served three terms in that post, between 1979 and 1990.

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Hoeven is the first North Dakota governor to win three four-year terms.

CNN: Dems win two open governor races, make history in N.C.

The slowdown appears to have persisted in the first three months of this year, when retail sales grew in real terms by just 0.3%.

ECONOMIST: Economic outlook

Throughout his first three terms, his coalition, made up of the Liberals and the smaller National Party, was hampered by its lack of a majority in the Senate, the upper house of Parliament.

ECONOMIST: Has he got the ticker? | The