COVER STORY
Restating the '90s We now have enough perspective to look back at the last decade and assess what was real--and what wasn't
COVER IMAGE: Restating the '90s
CHART: Faster Productivity Growth...Drove Up Pay Enough...To Push Down Profits
CHART: Investor Returns Lagged...As Exports Missed Expectations....And the Tech Sector Tanked
CHART: Good News for the Less Skilled
CHART: Education Levels Rose
CHART: Workers Did Better in the 1990s...As Unemployment Dropped...And Investment Soared
INTERNATIONAL -- INT'L COVER STORY
World Cup Follies In hosting football's biggest event, Japan and Korea are reigniting old rivalries
SPECIAL REPORT
What Ails Wireless?
Motorola and Nortel: Two Against the World?
Telcos in Hell
UP FRONT
Talk Show
Bring Back the Dimpled Chads
Charm School for Mutual Funds
Ms. Returns--With a Difference
How an MBA Can Bend Your Mind
The Ladyphone Is No Lady
As the Downturn Turns
READERS REPORT
Memo from Jean-Marie Messier
Sony's Customers Are Tired of Waiting
Setting the Record Straight on Drug Development
Three Cheers for Early-Decision Admission
Enron: No Profits, No Taxes Is More Like It
Liberal Arts Colleges Have Mastered the Personal Touch
Barro Got It Wrong about American Volunteerism
Harley Owners Aren't Out to Save Money
CORRECTIONS & CLARIFICATIONS
"Do housing subsidies work?" (Economic Trends, Feb. 18, 2002)
TECHNOLOGY & YOU
Broadband Needs Home Improvement
BOOKS
We Shop, Therefore We Are
The BusinessWeek Best-Seller List
ECONOMIC VIEWPOINT
Big Steel Doesn't Need Any More Propping Up
ECONOMIC TRENDS
U.S. Consumers: Not So Broke
When Hospitals Get Graded
The Work-At-Home Continent
BUSINESS OUTLOOK
U.S.: No More Pedal to the Metal for the Fed
Britain: Brighter Prospects--and Rate-Hike Rumblings
NEWS: ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY
Reform Lite
COMMENTARY: Andersen: The Heavy Hand of Justice
A Major Boon for Accounting's Minor League
Commentary: Options: It's Time for Companies to Come Clean
What Price Victory at Hewlett-Packard?
Why a Bold Management Plan Didn't Work
Road Warriors Fly Smart
GM: Going After the Young and the Thrifty
IN BUSINESS THIS WEEK
Peter Dolan: Is Bristol-Myers Takeover Bait?
Credit Raters Take It on the Chin
Lower Air Freight Doesn't Faze FedEx
The Street Spies a Flaw at Gemstar
Conseco's Money-Saving Maneuver
Shrinking the Menu at Putnam
Et Cetera...
Dollar Days
WASHINGTON OUTLOOK
The Club That's Clubbing Republican Moderates
What's Red All Over?
Clinton Inc.
Avuncular Advertising
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Matsushita's Long March
Canal+ Takes a Hit from the Pirates
Commentary: The Fast Fall of France's Celebrity CEOs
INTERNATIONAL OUTLOOK
The Mideast: Why Washington May Give Abdullah's Plan a Try
Italy's Dangerous Showdown
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
A Talk with Scott McNealy
FINANCE
Bullish on Bankruptcy
RESUME: Wilbur Ross: The Bankruptcy King
Dead Dot-Com? Marty's Your Man
Wall Street: More Heads Will Roll
Commentary: Stocks: The Case for Unsplitting
INDUSTRIAL MANAGEMENT
Commentary: Freight Transport: Safe from Terror?
Commentary: Saying "No Thanks" to Overnight Air
LEGAL AFFAIRS
The Highest Court You've Never Heard Of
INDUSTRIES
Online Travel Takes Wing
DEVELOPMENTS TO WATCH
Introduction
Where Do Fractal Structures Lead?
Factoring Biology into Computing
Fine-Grained Traffic Control
Innovations
THE CORPORATION
Target Takes a Gamble the Markets Don't Like
WORKING LIFE
Commentary: Goodbye, Boss Lady. Hello, Soccer Mom
BUSINESSWEEK LIFESTYLE
Turn Those Old LPs into New CDs
BUSINESSWEEK INVESTOR
Weighing the Balance Sheet
This Tech Maven Plays Both Sides Now
Calm in a Cyclone: Profile of a Leader
RESUME: Marion C. Blakey
THE BARKER PORTFOLIO
Deal Mania, Sandy Weill-Style
INSIDE WALL STREET
More Gold at Midas?
Getting Casinos Ready to Roll
Tutogen May Get a Facelift
FIGURES OF THE WEEK
Figures of the Week (.pdf)
EDITORIALS
Restating the '90s: Myth and Reality
A Blow to Accounting Reform
INTERNATIONAL -- READERS REPORT
What's Needed for Peace in Israel
Kirch: Crony Capitalism?
Tax Dodging: Managers Aren't Solely to Blame
Barro Gets It Mostly Right, but Not on Iran's Economy
INTERNATIONAL -- ASIAN BUSINESS
Haier's Tough Trip from China
Will Wal-Mart Conquer Japan?
INTERNATIONAL -- EUROPEAN BUSINESS
Can I-Mode Give This Also-Ran a Lift?
Blazing Speed in Biotech
Commentary: A New Central Banker Could Revive Russia's Banks
INTERNATIONAL -- FINANCE
Banking's Mainland Maverick
Where Does China Stash Its Cash? The U.S.
Germany's State Banks: Political Playthings
Ouch! It's Superpeso
INTERNATIONAL -- INT'L FIGURES OF THE WEEK
International Figures of the Week (.pdf)
INTERNATIONAL -- EDITORIALS
Momentum for a Mideast Peace Plan
Online Highlights
from this issue
Magazine Forums
Cover Typography by Joe Calviello/BW
International Cover: Digital Imaging by Joe Calviello/BW
RECENT ISSUES
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Sun's Guiding Light
CEO Scott McNealy on his network strategy, Enron as "Darwinian toast," and why corporate CFOs are his worst enemies
Muffler Money?
BW's Gene Marcial says auto-repair chain Midas may be riding high, and offers his thoughts on the nervous market
A New Look at the '90s
A BW analysis of the decade shows that the good times may have been even better than we thought, says BW's Bruce Nussbaum
The Fed in Neutral
Greenspan & Co. is leaving rates where they are, as it waits to make sure recovery has taken hold, says BW's Kathleen Madigan
Balance-Sheet Cues
BW's Lewis Braham took a look at the financials for a number of companies -- and found a few that could be good investment candidates
China's U.S. Play
The Middle Kingdom is parking more than half its trade surplus with the U.S. in Treasury securities, says BW's Bob Dowling
SPECIAL REPORTS
Best Global Brands
These 100 brands are among the world's most recognized—and most valuable
Best Places to Launch a Career
We canvassed career-services directors, employers, and students to rank the best companies for recent graduates
BusinessWeek 50
Our picks of the top-performing companies from the S&P 500. Plus, regional rankings for Asia and Europe:
Asia's BusinessWeek 50
Europe's BusinessWeek 50
Customer Service Champs
Companies that excel at pleasing customers, based on J.D. Power & Associates customer satisfaction data and our own reader survey
Hot Growth 100
From young, upstart companies to those that have been around for centuries: Plus, regional rankings of top-performing small businesses in Asia and Europe:
Asia's Hot Growth 100
Europe's Hot Growth 100
Info Tech 100
Emerging-market cellular players, wireless phone and gear makers, and Web giants are this year's stars
World's Most Innovative Companies
Nurturing, creative cultures allow these companies to wow customers with innovative products and services
More Special Reports