Instead, Mr Bowman tried to tie up a cunning side-deal to gain control of Captain Morgan rum, the Seagram brand that he coveted most, with Morgan's original Puerto Rican distillers, who had reclaimed ownership from Seagram under a change-of-control clause.

ECONOMIST: Face value: The mixer | The

The political discussion will center on the automatic spending cuts put in place by the sequester clause of the 2011 Budget Control Act, the expiration of the Bush tax cuts coupled with other tax increases, the debt ceiling, and entitlement reform, among other things.

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It is said that Roberts sought to prevent the liberal wing of the Supreme Court from interpreting the commerce clause so broadly that it would give Uncle Sam control over the economic life of the country.

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Previous attempts to pass a gun-control law have failed, so the government has put a clause in its bill promising that the restrictions on gun sales would only come into effect if approved by a national referendum.

ECONOMIST: One victim every minute | The

That is, a written clause in the bond indenture that says, if a control change occurs (i.e. merger, acquisition or LBO) then bondholders have the right to put their bonds back to the company at a predetermined price when a sale of substantially all the assets occurs.

FORBES: Bondholders Beware: More M&A Activity Is On The Way

But the dormant Commerce Clause runs smack into the principles of states' rights and local control that conservatives normally support.

FORBES: Wine And Your Phone Bill

But leaders resisted a second, much more ambitious move by the commission: to use the same treaty clause to create a stabilisation fund of unlimited size that it would also control, this time borrowing against loan guarantees from national governments.

ECONOMIST: Charlemagne