Author: dangtuanthien

When we print something, a flat page comes to mind. For example, you might use a photocopier.Photocopiers print in two dimensions.Now, imagine how this would work for three dimensions. A machine prints layers of material — usually plastic — one on top of the other. The layers are very thin — usually one-fifth or one-tenth …

Since January, lenders have seized or begun the process to seize about two million American homes. In September alone, banks and other financial companies reclaimed over one hundred thousand properties because of unpaid loans. That was the most yet since the housing collapse that led to the recent recession. Now, efforts to speed a housing …

Today we continue our report on the group of chemical elements known as rare earth metals. These are mined from the earth and used to make technology from mobile phones to missiles. The United States once led the world in rare earths. Today China controls almost all production. Premier Wen Jiabao says China will not …

Few people had ever heard of the natural elements known as rare earth metals before a recent dispute between China and Japan. Yet these metals are used in devices like smartphones, flat screen televisions, hybrid car batteries, MP3 players and military equipment.In September, Japan detained a Chinese ship captain near disputed islands in the East …

They are not even five millimeters long and cannot fly or jump. Yet bedbugs strike fear in homeowners and business owners. Well, not all business owners. Some see money in these little bloodsuckers. Missy Henriksen speaks for the National Pest Management Association. She says they are now seeing bedbugs in unusual places: schools and hospitals, …

American businesses are still slow to hire and unemployment remains near ten percent. But an economic research group reported in September that the recession in the United States ended in June of last year. It was the longest recession since the nineteen thirties. James Stock is on the committee that dates the rises and falls …

The financial crisis of two thousand eight brought attention to a big problem with banks. Many banks did not have enough money in reserve to protect against their losses. Now there is a proposed solution. In September, banking supervisors from twenty-six nations and Hong Kong met in Basel, Switzerland. They announced proposals to make banks …

In September, President Obama proposed new measures to lift the economy. The central bank in its latest report said there was continued growth in the past several weeks, but with “widespread signs” of slowing. Congressional elections are November second. One new survey showed that forty-nine percent of likely voters think Republicans should control Congress. Other …

I’m Alex Villarreal with the VOA Special English Economics Report. America’s biggest carmaker accepted fifty billion dollars in federal aid from the Obama and Bush administrations. People joked that GM meant “Government Motors.” Now, General Motors could be on the road to recovery. The company recorded over two and a half billion dollars in profit …

I’m Alex Villarreal with the VOA Special English Economics Report. Businesses are structured in different ways to meet different needs. The simplest form of business is called an individual or sole proprietorship. The proprietor owns all of the property of the business and is responsible for everything. For legal purposes, with this kind of business, …

In August, Verizon and Google proposed a plan they say could keep the Internet open while supporting investment in high-speed Internet service.Verizon has the nation’s biggest wireless network while Google is the biggest Internet search engine. The proposal was a surprise because the two companies have been on opposite sides of the debate over net …

Mark Hurd got credit for building Hewlett-Packard into the world’s largest technology company. H-P is the top seller of personal computers and printers. It had sales last year of almost one hundred fifteen billion dollars. Mister Hurd became chief executive officer five years ago after H-P ousted Carly Fiorina. Later he also became chairman. Under …

BlackBerry service is facing limits or bans in some countries over the issue of government access to information on its network. Research in Motion, or RIM, makes BlackBerry communications devices. They run on the company’s network and secure software. The company is based in Waterloo, Canada. BlackBerry has forty-six million users worldwide. In August, the …

One of the largest air shows in the United States is also one of the largest trade shows in the aircraft industry. AirVenture took place in July at an airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Ron Wagner is from the Experimental Aircraft Association, which holds the event each year. He said almost every major manufacturer and many …

On July twenty-first, President Obama signed into law the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. He said: “These reforms represent the strongest consumer financial protections in history.” Together, the changes represent the biggest rewrite of financial rules since the Great Depression. At the heart of the two thousand three hundred pages in the bill …

voalearningenglishRecently, the United States Supreme Court decided a case on the property rights of inventors. The question was whether a business method is enough of an invention to receive a patent. Patents are a form of intellectual property. They give legal protections to individuals and companies against the copying of their inventions. Bernard Bilski and …

The International Monetary Fund has raised its prediction for world economic growth to four and six-tenths percent this year. That is a half-percentage point higher than the estimate in April. The IMF credited expansion in Asia and growing demand in the United States. But the lender’s chief economist also warned that “downside risks have risen …

Concerns about a double-dip recession were back in the news at the end of June. Some economists warned of the possibility of another downturn if governments withdraw growth measures too quickly. But others warned of the dangers of letting deficits and debts continue to grow. Leaders of the world’s biggest economies agreed to cut their …

In June, leaders and top finance officials from the world’s twenty biggest economies gathered in Toronto, Canada. One of the big issues they discussed is how and when to reduce deficits and economic growth measures as conditions improve.Chancellor Angela Merkel defended Germany’s decision to cut spending by one hundred billion dollars over four years. But …

Factory labor built China into the world’s third largest economy, after the United States and Japan. Now something else is building: labor tensions. China bars labor unions independent of the Communist Party. But George Haley at the University of New Haven in Connecticut says labor unrest is common and is not new. There has been …