The Democrats Bow to the Megabanks.
Never underestimate the ability of Congress to repeat its mistakes. A decade ago, after it gambled and lost on deregulation, Congress was forced to launch a $500 billion taxpayer-financed bailout of the savings and loan industry. Congress has just rolled the deregulation dice again. This time, the outcome may...

Russian religious rejections of money and 'Homo Economicus': the self-identifications of the "pioneers of a money economy" in post-Soviet Russia.
The Russian religious philosopher Vasilii Rozanov (1905/1994: 9) conceived religion as "the soul of a nation." Feodor Dostoevsky believed that one who was not Orthodox could not be Russian. In these pronouncements, as well as in this paper, religion is understood as a system of beliefs and attitudes which shape...

Industry Move to One-Stop-Shopping.
Increases competition in Financial Services While the financial services industry is growing, the impact of technology, mergers and acquisitions and legislation is rapidly changing the landscape. The Internet and advances in telecommunications are making it easier for banks to deal directly with consumers. Boundaries that once kept...

Debtor's revolt: El Barzon fights to break the yoke.
IN MEXICO there are two revolutions. `One is armed, which is the one in Chiapas, and the other is unarmed, which is El Barzon,' says debtor Silvia Gonzalez Roman. She is referring to the debtors' revolution that is sweeping the country. Mexico's debtor problem is enormous. In January a...

George Richard Dibbs. Politician, Premier, Patriot, Paradox.
T. W. Campbell, George Richard Dibbs. Politician, Premier, Patriot, Paradox, Canberra, published privately by the author, P O Box 63, Braddon ACT 2612, 1999; ISBN 0 646 37588 1; ix + 355 pp. Sir George Dibbs, a robust, Australian-born patriot, thrice premier of New South Wales in...

Forays on the governance frontier.
Historians tend to look on the Eisenhower years as placid and passive, but we at the SEC were doing a lot, planting seeds for the future. Asked to express a few recollections of the decade of the 1950s that might be of interest to readers of DIRECTORS & BOARDS...

Challenging times impact the financial services industry in a slowing economy.
Prior to the destruction of the World, Trade Center, the financial services industry was already experiencing a slowdown. The bust of numerous Internet start-ups in late 2000 and early 2001 led to less interest in the industry from venture capitalists, which in turn, dried up the lucrative business of...

Banks poised for consolidation.
Banks Poised For Consolidation State of the Industry: "Even though 1990 was a poor year for the banking industry, the industry was not as bad off as was commonly perceived. We tracked 245 bank holding companies of which roughly 83% reported profits last year. The net income for those...

Competitive service.
NEW DEVELOPMENTS, emanating from both the banking community and the Egyptian government, are bringing Egyptian retail banking up to international standards. This year, Banque Misr, Egypt's largest, launches a new Visa card for both local and international currencies. Misr, and the first Egyptian bank to offerk a dual Visa...

FACING UP TO GLOBAL CHALLENGES.
The Arab banking industry has achieved spectacular growth and international recognition since the latter part of the 20th century. The new century offers both opportunities and immense challenges for regional banks. The rapid innovations in the field of information technology and telecommunications, coupled with continuous de-regulation of domestic markets...