Ford’s top sales analyst says small cars will be biggest US market segment by 2013

Ford analyst sees small car segment growing

SPIN METER: Expert argues international rankings unfair to American higher ed

SPIN METER: Rankings unfair to US higher ed?

Poll reveals generation gap on democracy, capitalism in ex-communist European countries

Poll: generation gap in Eastern Europe on politics

Health care issues: A premium cost generation gap

A look at key issues in the health care debate:

Cuba denies blogger Yoani Sanchez permission to travel to US to accept top journalism prize

HAVANA — A Cuban blogger who has become an international sensation for offering frank criticism of her country’s communist system said she was denied government permission Monday to travel to New York to receive a top journalism prize.

Younger Americans find vast opportunities in recession, while older generations struggle

NEW YORK — The Great Recession has turned into the best of times for young investor Daniel Lee.

A return from ‘fairyland’: Meltdown shakes up consumers’ money views, investing habits

CHICAGO — The stock market bounced back, just as it has for nearly three decades. It just doesn’t feel that way.

Even if shoppers’ willingness to spend returns, ability likely to be constrained for years

CHICAGO — A year after “shop ’til you drop” stopped, the nation fixates on this question: Will consumer spending ever return to pre-recession levels?

Ind. Gov. Daniels denies White House interest despite growing GOP buzz about his 2012 plans

BAINBRIDGE, Ind. — Republican Mitch Daniels has repeatedly insisted that his 2008 run for a second term as Indiana’s governor was his last election and that he’s not interested in the “savagery” of a national campaign.

For young generation, Ted Kennedy was living link to a family known only as history

CHICAGO — For young Americans unfamiliar with terms like Chappaquiddick, Ted Kennedy was always a rotund, grandfatherly figure, a living link to the storied family they knew only from history books and tales from their parents.

MOUNTAIN OF DEBT: After health care, an even rowdier debate lies ahead over Social Security

WASHINGTON — As Congress agonizes over health care, an even more daunting and dangerous challenge is bearing down: how to shore up Social Security to keep it from burying the nation ever deeper in debt.

Study finds split in attitudes on religion, relationships; largest generation gap since ’60s

WASHINGTON — From cell phones and texting to religion and manners, younger and older Americans see the world differently, creating the largest generation gap since the tumultuous years of the 1960s and the culture clashes over Vietnam, civil rights and women’s liberation.

Study: US generation gap largest since 1960s, widening attitudes on religion, relationships

WASHINGTON — American adults from young to old disagree increasingly today on social values ranging from religion to relationships, creating the largest generation gap since divisions 40 years ago over Vietnam, civil rights and women’s liberation.

Farrah’s got The Poster and The Hair, but for girls of Gen X, she represents much more

Dear Farrah Fawcett,

I’m sure you understand why Michael Jackson’s death has taken over the airwaves and blogosphere, but the folks you’ve touched remember you, too. You might not be on the front page, but people are still talking.

GM looks to new LaCrosse sedan to help change Buick’s image as car for senior citizens

DETROIT — With only four brands selling far fewer models than in the past, every new car or truck that General Motors Corp. rolls out is paramount, and none is more important than the 2010 Buick LaCrosse.

Editorial Roundup: Excerpts From Recent Editorials in Newspapers in the US and Abroad.

Fewer veterans of the ‘Greatest Generation’ around for D-Day memorial, but memories vivid

NEW ORLEANS — It’s “A Gathering of the Greatest Generation” — though this year only a small group of that era’s aging heroes will commemorate the invasion of France at Normandy 65 years ago.

Recession hits Social Security, Medicare, too _ funds face insolvency faster than expected

WASHINGTON — Social Security and Medicare are fading even faster under the weight of the recession, heading for insolvency years sooner than previously expected, the government warned Tuesday.

$250 government stimulus checks going to 50 million retirees in May

WASHINGTON — More than 50 million retirees can expect to receive $250 payments from the government in the next few weeks as their share of the economic stimulus package enacted in February.