The amiable Ms Ypsilanti, meanwhile, has begun to master policy and smarten up her speeches.

ECONOMIST: Germany's state elections

Reah McCaughley(ph) of Ypsilanti, Michigan came with her daughter and plans to volunteer for a year.

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The Abecedarian project that began in 1972 involved 111 infants in North Carolina, while the Perry project of 1962-on involved 123 poor children and their families in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

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Carrie with us from Ypsilanti in Michigan.

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In proposing to form a minority government (in coalition with the Greens), Ms Ypsilanti was breaking an SPD campaign promise that it would not co-operate with the Left Party, the successor to East Germany's communists.

ECONOMIST: Germany's Social Democrats

Nine months after an election in Hesse had produced a tie between the two main parties, the state legislature was due to replace Roland Koch, boss of the local Christian Democratic Union (CDU), as premier and to install Andrea Ypsilanti, leader of the state's Social Democrats (SPD), in his place.

ECONOMIST: Germany's Social Democrats