To the average member of the US Congress, the world is a simple place - if China can be pushed to let the renminbi float free or at least be revalued, the US trade deficit with China will disappear and US manufacturing jobs will magically reappear.

India's banking sector has long been considered a laggard in relation to the country's hugely successful economy, and this year's Top 1000 Banks ranking shines a new and unflattering light on the true extent of India's malaise.

Banking in Africa faces major challenges but the outlook is compellingly positive for players who are committed to investing in the continent's growth.

Luis Arce, Bolivia's finance minister

Since president Evo Morales took office in Bolivia in 2006, political stability has gone hand-in-hand with a period of robust economic growth. The country's finance minister shares with The Banker how Bolivia has managed to protect itself from the worst of the global economic crisis and spells out plans for future expansion. Writer Jane Monahan

Appointed to the executive board in June 2009, the CIO of Credit Suisse discusses the role of IT in financial services organisations and what it takes to grab that seat at the boardroom table. Writer Michelle Price

When markets crash someone or something must be at fault - heads must roll, structures reformed, the rules rewritten.

The UK is in the honeymoon period of a new government - a novel coalition of right-of-centre Conservatives and left-of-centre Liberal Democrats. This is sure to end as the government sets about taking the tough tax and spending decisions required to bring the UK's budget numbers back into shape and avert a Greek-style crisis.

Chris Skinner

While new toys in the payments world may be exciting, they are unlikely to herald a revolution.