1.   Congress must slash federal spending to curb a growing deficit.

2.   The growing deficit was a dominant theme in the election.

3.   And he pointed to two events in recent months when the markets seemed to believe there was little hope of the United States moving to end growing deficits.

4.   A growing deficit hurts the currency by putting more dollars into the hands of Japanese exporters, who sell them for yen when repatriating revenue.

5.   A growing deficit leaves more New Zealand dollars in the hands of foreign exporters, who will sell the currency when they bring profits home.

6.   A growing deficit could put a credit squeeze on companies and keep a potential source of investment -- private pension funds -- from materializing, analysts said.

7.   But any shrinking gap will be filled by the growing deficit with China.

8.   Even by American figures, the growing deficit with China is offset to a large extent by a declining American deficit with other Asian nations.

9.   Eventually, a growing deficit could threaten American jobs, particularly in industries that compete directly with Japanese products.

10.   German government bonds rose, outperforming a tumbling U.S. Treasuries market as Finance Minister Theo Waigel imposed a spending freeze to stem growing deficits.