Budgeting and Finance

The Boeing Tanker Lease Deal (B)

Publication Date: August 09, 2006

In May 2003, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld approved an agreement allowing the Air Force to lease 100 converted Boeing 767 aircraft as aerial refueling tankers. The deal's critics, most prominently Senator John McCain, argued that no, the...

The Boeing Tanker Lease Deal (A)

Publication Date: August 09, 2006

The September 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States precipitated US military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq, increasing demand for certain military assets. Domestically, the attacks crippled an already struggling airline industry, hurting...

Financing the Theun-Hinboun Hydroelectric Project

Publication Date: February 21, 2006

How does a public-private venture emerge in one of the world's poorest countries (Laos) and how does it obtain $280 million in financing for a 215 MW hydroelectric facility to supply power--not to the host country, but its neighbor? At the time...

Revising Electricity Tariffs in Brazil

Publication Date: February 21, 2006

This case examines the dilemma confronting the Brazilian electricity regulator in the period following power rationing. Brazil privatized about 65 percent of the distribution companies (DISCOs) in the 1990s, but the companies were hit hard...

Pension Reform in California

Publication Date: January 01, 2006

As February 2005 drew to a close, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger faced increasingly vociferous attacks from labor unions, and other interest groups, over his proposed public employee pension reform. California had been facing a...

Mr. Nam's Dilemma

Publication Date: September 30, 2005

In 2000, Vietnam passed the Enterprise Law to spur private sector development and facilitate its transition from a centrally-planned to a market economy. The Enterprise Law changed the paradigm for private business in Vietnam by making business...

Beyond Cooperation: Gender, Activism, and Self-Help in Maharashtra (Epilogue)

Publication Date: September 19, 2005

In February, 2004, the general manager of the Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank failed to show up for work several days in a row. His absence followed a meeting of the full staff of the bank with the chair of the board, Chetna Sinha, in which...

Beyond Cooperation: Gender, Activism, and Self-Help in Maharashtra

Publication Date: September 19, 2005

In February 2004, the general manager of the Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank failed to show up for work several days in a row. His absence followed a meeting of the full staff of the bank with the chair of the board, Chetna Sinha, in which...

The Social Construction of Gender: Microfinance and Fa'afafines in Samoa

Publication Date: September 19, 2005

In 2003, Minh Lai, manager of the South Pacific Business Development Foundation (SPBD), a nonprofit microfinance institution providing financial services to women in Samoa, made a decision to lend to fa'afafines after several asked whether SPBD...

Microfinance and Social Entrepreneurship: South Pacific Business Development Foundation

Publication Date: September 19, 2005

American businessman, Greg Casagrande, founder and president of the South Pacific Business Development Foundation (SPBD) in Samoa has a decision to make: who should he hire to be the next general manager of SPBD, when the contract of his current...

Aiding or Abetting? World Bank and the 1997 Judicial Reform Project (Epilogue)

Publication Date: March 31, 2005

When the World Bank signed an agreement with the government of Peru in December, 1997 to provide a $22.5 million loan to help reform the country's antiquated and corrupt judicial system, the Bank knew it faced risks. Peru's President Alberto...

A Public Service or Gravy Train? The Federal Guaranteed Student Loan Program

Publication Date: February 01, 2005

Beginning with the so-called GI Bill in 1944, the US federal government began to intervene in the higher education marketplace to provide subsidized loans, as well as grants, directly to students. After the 1965 Higher Education Act, such...