Elsewhere in this issue you’ll find an article I wrote about Ken Lewis, the beleaguered (and now former) chief executive officer of Bank of America Corp. In the course of researching that piece, I realized that while there is near unanimity about the need for reform of securities regulation — after all, no one is so foolish as to make the case that things were fine just as they were — there is much debate over the shape, and severity, of the overhaul. 

As 2009 came to a close, Gov. Beverly Perdue made sure North Carolinians knew presents were on the way just in time for Christmas.

Tiger Woods’ extramarital affairs might have shanked his reputation, but it’s developer Jim Anthony who’s in the rough.

After he was fired in August as president of Raleigh-based Law Enforcement Associates Corp., Paul Feldman claimed other shareholders might have engaged in stock manipulation and insider trading.

It comes as no surprise that Winston-Salem felt pride when Chicago-based Sara Lee Corp. spun off Hanesbrands Inc. in September 2006 and set up its headquarters there.

When it opened more than two years ago, a privately owned container port in Portsmouth, Va., was widely hailed as a model for others — including North Carolina’s international terminal, planned near Southport.

In plain talk, a pyrrhic victory means: “We burned down the house, but at least we got rid of the cockroaches.” That might apply to builders and developers whose lawsuit caused the state Court of Appeals to overturn Union County’s impact fee on new homes.

For all its commitment to facts and truthfulness, the writing of history always proves to be more art than science.

Just when the western part of the state had nearly recovered from the recession of 2001, along came the second downturn of the decade.

Eastern North Carolina has long been a political colossus and an economic runt.

Few places in the U.S. suffered as much as Charlotte during the near meltdown of the nation’s financial sector in late 2008.

They moved to Clayton from Indiana two years ago, attracted by, among other things, the region’s strong economy and how the Johnston County town of about 14,000 maintained its village character.

The ’00s weren’t kind to the Triad. Employment in the region slipped about 5% during the decade as manufacturing jobs left.

The recession wasn’t as brutal to the Triangle as it was to other parts of the state, but the blows it dealt weren’t all love taps.

This marks the 23rd time Business North Carolina has named a Mover and Shaker of the Year, and like our current pick, more than a third have been bankers.