When so many people -- especially the young -- are struggling to find a toe hold in the labor market, does it really make sense to make it harder for employers to hire them?

WSJ: Delay the Minimum-Wage Hike

But one result of Mr Stoiber's tough talk is that far-right parties (see article) have failed to get more than a Bavarian toe-hold.

ECONOMIST: Germany��s election

Eleven firms, most of them recently constituted, now scrap for a toe-hold in a market that two sleepy insurers contested a couple of years ago.

ECONOMIST: Pension buy-outs

Shia groups also have a toe-hold in the vast southern marshland.

ECONOMIST: Iraq��s opposition: No aid yet for Saddam’s foes | The