The characters swim in data, and their relationships to it shape the arc of the plot, and thus, the fate of the United States.

FORBES: 'Homeland' and the Age of Information Overload

Bayh, a pro-free trade Democrat, was consistently on the wrong side of economic issues that determine the fate of Great Lakes manufacturing states such as Indiana.

NPR: The Nation: Bye Bayh, Bring On The Populists

One of the few remaining and, arguably, most significant issues to be resolved is the fate of the SR-71, the United States preeminent manned reconnaissance aircraft.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center for Security Policy | Congress Must Preserve A Vital Strategic Reconnaissance Capability �� The SR-71

"You realize how absolutely blessed you are by the fate of your soul coming down the chute in the United States of America, " she says.

CNN: As children starve, world struggles for solution

For reasons of geography Mexico's fate is ineluctably intertwined with that of the United States.

ECONOMIST: Mexico��s economy

The fate of the global economy does not rest on China, but on the shoulders of the United States and Europe.

FORBES: China Reaches Into Its Monetary Tool Kit

The venerable patent system in the United States is in danger of succumbing to the same fate.

FORBES: Policy Debates On Patents Should Focus On Facts, Not Rhetoric

Economist Luigi Zingales is worried that the United States is becoming a land of crony capitalism and nepotism, and will suffer the fate of his homeland of Italy.

FORBES: A Capitalism for the People

The Supreme Court's verdict will determine the fate not just of Arizona's law, but of similar measures in five other states.

ECONOMIST: Immigration politics