The aim is to prevent states from boosting the overall performance of their children while leaving vulnerable groups behind.

ECONOMIST: George Bush's education reforms may be working

In part it is because stockmarket falls in 2008 slashed fund managers' revenues, leaving some groups with broken business models.

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Panamanian police have been ordered not to engage any armed groups, leaving the Colombian rivals to fight it out, albeit on Panama's soil.

ECONOMIST: Out by Panama��s front door, in through the back?