1.  Deficit spending, on a scale no nation at peace has ever tried before, has kept the economy afloat.

2.  Dell has kept operating expenses at 10.3 percent compared to revenue, where the average for other companies has hovered in the mid-teens or higher.

3.  Currently Aznar's power has been kept in check by his dependence on the regional CiU, the Catalan nationalist party, to assure his parliamentary majority.

4.  Demand for skilled and semi-skilled workers has kept Ohio's jobless rate among the lowest in the nation.

5.  Demand growth in the U.S. and Europe hasn't kept pace with supply, as ever-more-efficient refineries squeeze more from every barrel of crude.

6.  Despite five quarter-point interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve over 11 months, the economy has kept roaring along.

7.  Despite her meteoric rise, Hill has kept herself grounded through family life.

8.  Designing its own software and hardware has kept Apple's costs higher than competitors.

9.  Despite a palpable increase in volatility, major market indexes have kept moving higher.

10.  Despite its rapid rate of growth in the relatively mature market of MasterCard and Visa bankcards, MBNA has kept its loan losses well below the industry average.