PRESS DIGEST - Washington Post Business - Dec 13

WASHINGTON, Dec 13 (Reuters) - The Washington Post included the following items on the front page of its business section on Dec. 13. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

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The Federal Reserve launched a concerted effort with central banks around the world to try to get financial institutions to lend money more readily, its latest attempt to help thaw a frozen financial system.

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NEW YORK - Throughout 2006, T. Rowe Price analyst Susan Troll watched in horror as one risky mortgage deal after another hit the market. She became alarmed by a widening trend: mortgage lenders issuing home loans of poor quality that were then packaged and sold by Wall Street investment banks to investors worldwide.

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XIANGHE, China - During the opening day of high-level economic talks, China's newly designated commerce minister turned the tables on his U.S. counterparts by engaging in something that until recently had always been an inside-the-Beltway specialty: spin.

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