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During the past few months we have been swamped with gadgets incorporating the euro symbol. All the major European banks have been distributing euro-inspired watches, clocks, calculators and even food items to their main clients and their employees to celebrate the birth of the new currency.

At the unlikely venue of Durbanville racecourse in autumnal South Africa, a little-known four-year-old pipped Like A Rock by a length to win the Maiden Plate over 1,200 metres on April 28.

Is the international sovereign bond market on the verge of a great transformation or will the recent debate over terms and conditions turn out to be so much hot air? Investors and bankers are hoping for the latter proclaiming that any changes would cut off the supply of capital to emerging markets. Others decry a situation in which they see different lenders getting different treatment due more to historical evolution than to any set of rational principles.

Central America: A whole new way of thinking

Portugal's banks are performing well, stimulated by the new single currency. In the long term, though, they will need to consolidate if they are to carve out profitable niches in euroland. One route to this, arrangements with Spanish banks, has just closed, at least temporarily. James Rutter reports on the likely next steps

Prompted by the ravages of Hurricane Mitch and the crisis in emerging markets, Central America is changing - fast. As the crisis in Brazil finally explodes the myth of monetary sovereignty, Central American capital markets and institutions are being restructured in line with global developments. Michael Peterson toured Central America's banking sector, stopping off in Costa Rica to interview the president.

Laisser-faire never was quite what it seemed. It required a lot of state power to create and a lot of state power was acquired under the guise of free markets. The process hasn't finished yet. Globalization, far from undermining the nation state, is fostering stronger governments capable of standing up to the new forces. Laisser-faire is over, re-regulation has begun and welfare spending is about to rocket, especially in the emerging markets. The 21st century will witness more varied forms of capitalism than ever before, each with a differing role for the market and a strong role for the state, argues Brian Caplen

How does an emerging-market sovereign extract the best from its underwriters? Argentina, praised for its borrowing success, has learnt its tough tactics the hard way. Gone are the days when freewheeling bankers could sell the republic a pup. Now they are met with controlled aggression and barbed comments alternating with soothing charm. Good cop, bad cop, Argentine-style, has shaved basis points off the nation's funding costs. Brian Caplen reports on the team behind the strategy

An interesting document, which came into Euromoney's hands, maybe sheds some light on the furore in Japan about deals allegedly designed to defer losses over future reporting periods. David Shirreff reports

Today's short-termism doesn't encourage the study of history, unless it's reduced to a set of data points. Here we test that little-used part of the brain which stores longer-term facts. They were important at the time, but the detail has long-since vanished in the white noise of yesterday's markets. Most of the answers can be found somewhere in this anniversary edition