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Governing boards are a bit like meteors above an organizational “planet”. If they position themselves too far above it all, they are likely to float at an innocuous distance, meaningless and without impact. On the other hand, if they plunge too deeply and quickly they are likely to burn up in the atmosphere, dissipating their well‐intentioned energy in a spate of “micromanagement”. This article describes a process for capitalizing on a market “crossroad” as an opportunity for board and staff alike to “rehearse” alternative views of the future, gain experience in the process of grappling with associated policy matters and make peace with both a shared vision and a more appropriate relationship with one another. Relevant concepts, tools and processes are outlined for adaptation by governing bodies in similar circumstances.

At the turn of the twentieth century, various Socialist parties vied for a place in the American political system, making alliances where possible and convenient with elements of organized labor. Robert Franklin Hoxie, an economist at the University of Chicago whose principle contributions lay in his writings on the labor movement, wrote a series of essays in which he scrutinized the activities of the Socialist Party of America as it appeared to be at the time poised to become a viable force in American politics. This essay examines Hoxie’s writings on the conventions of the Socialist Party within the context of the political dynamic of the period and reveals his interpretations of events based on contemporary accounts and first-hand observations.

Bituminous pavement materials have low viscosity at elevated temperatures. This allows effective compaction during the laying process. In laying unchipped materials compaction is necessary to densify the mix whereas in laying chipped materials compaction is necessary to embed the chippings and also densify the matrix. Since wearing courses are normally 40 mm thick the time available for these aims to be met is limited. This time period is a function of the hot‐mix and underlying material properties and ambient parameters prevailing when it is laid.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the basis of the complaints against banks which sold private label securities to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac before the financial crisis. The examination shows that all but one of the cases was settled out of court. Nomura and RBS went to court, but the case against them was based on dubious evidence and on strict liability which only enabled the judge to set aside relevant evidence. The Securities and Exchange Commission’s evidence against senior executives of Fannie and Freddie shows that they deliberately purchased PLSs based on subprime loans to meet the government’s housing targets.

The research was based on publicly available documents, including details of the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) complaints against the banks in question, the settlement agreements published by the DoJ, FHFA and SEC. Furthermore, it includes documentary evidence from the Financial Crisis Inquiry Committee and Senate Committees, the full transcript of the trial, opinions of the judge for the trial and the judgement.

The findings are that many have concluded that settlements out of court fail to satisfy the demand for justice. They have been criticised as a trade-off between the prosecutor and the bank, with a view that the imposition of large fines is to pay back taxpayers’ money spent on rescuing the banks, rather than punishing those responsible. Such fines do little, if anything, to change the behaviour of banks. As a result, the Department of Justice issued a memorandum on 9 September to focus on individual accountability for corporate wrongdoing. It remains to be seen how many cases against senior executives will result from the change in direction.

The implications of the research are that it is important even in the aftermath of such a serious if not devastating financial crisis to ensure that the laws are properly applied and can stand up to any challenge that it has been stretched to obtain the results the administration of the day wants to see. In addition, care must be taken over both the imposition of large fines and the use to which the monies should be put. All the parties involved in bringing about the crisis should be held to account. The major cases against the banks have almost all been “resolved”. A change in direction has now taken place.

The practical implications of holding individuals to account should now be tackled. It requires a careful examination of the laws and regulations already in place to ensure that it is clear within a bank as to who is responsible for what. It will only be possible to hold senior individuals to account if the laws are clear and if all the evidence is not hidden. It may also require a review of the contracts under which senior executives are employed, because to remove a person from his post and then find that he still has a large pension pot and bonuses due may not result in justice either. A delicate balancing act is required because banks require highly competent and motivated individuals to run them.

If a very large fine is imposed on a bank, the shareholders and customers pay. The shareholders will mostly own the shares through their pensions and their savings in mutual funds.

There have been few studies of all the cases against the banks brought by the DoJ and FHFA and still fewer have recognized the fact that government housing policy was the source of the extent of the subprime mortgages.

The Shipbuilding Industry Training Board and the Skills Testing Service of the City and Guilds of London Institute, in cooperation with a number of leading shipyards, have developed phased test programmes for eight of the principal craft trades in the shipbuilding and shiprepairing industry. These tests are intended for trainee craftsmen who have completed their first year's training off‐the‐job in a training centre and are undergoing planned experience training in their yards to the standard recommended by the Shipbuilding Industry Training Board. The tests cover the trades of electrician, fitter, joiner, pipeworker, sheet‐metal worker, caulker/burner/driller/riveter, plater/shipwright and welder. A test programme covers all the main tasks or key skills normally performed by skilled men in the trade. Each job test is assessed according to success or failure in covering its essential features. Tests are taken by trainees in the course of production in the yard and are assessed by production staff. The preparation of each set of tests began with a study in a shipyard to find out what work a trainee would be expected to cover during his planned experience training. The test jobs drawn up as a result of this study were carefully scrutinised by production supervisors from other shipbuilding and shiprepair yards. A number of firms were invited to conduct a pilot project using the tests for a number of trainees in their second, third and fourth years of training. The tests were amended in the light of reports received on these projects and grouped to cover the key skills involved. An assessment was then made of either the number of jobs or the particular jobs, the satisfactory completion of which was considered to be essential to qualify for the Board's Certificate of Craftsmanship. This project, which was begun in November 1969 and completed in March 1972, and involved some eighteen firms in the industry, is described in the following account provided by some of the people involved.

Reference questions calling for accurate and current data on the HIV infection and AIDS are frequent in any library. Our ability as librarians to answer these and related questions raised by the general and professional public interested in the epidemic hinges on our knowledge of where and how to find AIDS data—statistics, tables, graphs, and figures.

The deadhead subculture – centered around the band Grateful Dead – has been active for 50+ years. Despite its longevity, academic work is sparse compared to other music subcultures. Given its durability and resilience, this subculture offers an opportunity to explore subcultural development and maintenance. I employ a contemporary, symbolic interactionist approach to trace the development of deadhead subculture and subcultural identity. Although identity is a basic concept in subculture research, it is not well defined: I suggest that the co-creation and maintenance of subcultural identity can be seen as a dialectic between collective identity and symbolic interactionist conceptions of individual role-identity.

Previous research suggests that inefficiencies in the small business market exist surrounding the availability of capital by Small and Microenterprises (SMMEs). Using data from the 1992 Characteristics of Business Owners Survey (CBO), the 2002 Survey of Business Owners (SBO), and the 2003 Survey of Small Business Finance (SSBF) this paper empirically estimates the "capital gap"- that is the unmet capital demand for business by SMMEs. We find that there is in fact a capital gap as the supply of capital available in the SMME market is not large enough to meet market demand. Given the importance of small businesses to economic vitality, growth, and recovery of the United States economy, the research provides critical and timely findings for policymakers and public finance managers seeking economic development and recovery

Individuals develop and perform and process their identities in relationships with others as well as with the environment in which they find themselves, Many of these relationships with others are characterized by fundamental inequalities. In finding their identities, the subordinate in the relationship develops an identity that typically take steps – by vocal and non-vocal gestures – to perform this particularized identity. The identification of self is not only related to the others, with eachindividual in reflective communication, but also reflections characterized by inequality. In continuing to do so, he or she will experience a certain powerlessness, indeed what Marx called alienation.