With the widely perceived abeyance of the Soviet threat, nearly every Western democracy has chosen to slacken the pace with which it pursues defense research and development.

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He told me a story about a client who, having bought her first pair of his heels, was forced to slacken the pace of her morning walk.

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Meanwhile, import growth should slacken as firms reduce the pace of import-intensive stockbuilding.

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Australia's economy has also been helped by a housing boom and demand for its mineral exports but economists expect the pace to slacken.

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Whereas the rattling pace of America's economy is expected to slacken in the second half of the year, the slower-growing euro area and Japan are thought to be picking up even if in Europe this is still more evident in confidence surveys than in hard figures.

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In the high-tech industry, monetary awards are a better way to ensure that the pace of technological progress does not slacken under a welter of questionable lawsuits.

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Apartments, where the pace of increases is in line to slacken from 5% to 4%, have benefited from still high home prices and tightening mortgage-lending standards.

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