Follow the money, find your way to the Core

■"Dream fulfilled helps Muslims realize theirs: Interest-free loans follow Islamic law without surrendering profit," by Elliot Blair Smith, USA Today, 25 February 2005, p. 1A.

■"Beijing eases rules for private investment," by Richard McGregor, Financial Times, 26-27 February 2005, p. 5.

■"Argentine president optimistic on debt exchange," by Adam Thomson, Financial Times, 26-27 February 2005, p. 2.

Great first article on how American Muslims have learned, over time, how to get around the Koran's rule set on interest when granting and servicing mortgages. The company profiled is American Finance House-Lariba, which is on the cutting edge of this lease-to-own-style mortgage vehicle that's expected to draw up large numbers of Muslim homeowners, both new and those refinancing, as this practice becomes more widespread.

Nothing connects you to an economic future worth creating better than a home mortgage. My guess is that America will someday feature more Muslim homeowners than any country in the world. And I'm guessing that day will come far sooner than anyone realizes.

Following the money gets easier and easier in China, and it should be, given the flow of foreign direct investment that country sucks in each year as the world's largest target (surpassing the U.S. now two years in a row). So while the defense community gets all jacked about the antisecession law, the State Council's just made it a whole lot easier to privately invest in power, rail, aviation and oil sectorsóall of which define connectivity and PNM's "four flows" of people, energy, money and security. Why does China do this? The private-sector is providing the vast bulk of job creation, and that's what matters most to the Communist Party's long-term legitimacy.

And yes, I know how oxymoronic that statement sounds . . ..

Then there's Argentina's tumultuous ride through the A-to-Z rule set for economically-bankrupt states, loosely known as the IMF's still informal sovereign bankruptcy process. A while back New Core Argentina defaulted on a world record's worth of $100 billion of sovereign debt. Argentina has restructured and done most of what the IMF has asked, and now the upshot looks like 34 cents on the dollar. With the debt-restructuring process pretty much completed, it's now believed that 75% of the defaulted securities have now entered the exchange process. This is crucial, when Argentina went under in December 2001, about half of the population was suddenly plunged below the poverty line and the state was cut off from international capital marketsóa situation that will end with this completed exchange process. Did global investors get burned? Yes. But Argentina's state coffers weren't emptied in the process, and that's crucial. Making sure Argentina stays in the Core is more important than everyone getting their money back.