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KABIRU DANLADI’s OPINION, DAILY TRUST (ABUJA) —  After two centuries of being a world super power, recent events point to the fall of the greatest super power in the history of the modern world - the American Empire. Writing in his Foundation stories to show that every Empire, even the most powerful one, has to fall eventually, Isaac Asimov, a Russian commentator said that everyone knows that America achieved its peak power and world influence in the twentieth century. But how much longer is it going to last?

It is very hard to predict what will happen in the next few years, basically because we still have little knowledge of what is happening inside the country. The only thing that came to us is what is sieved through their powerful media and the media help a lot to hide the realities on ground. But, as Asimov observed, there are certain signs that may give early hints that the end is approaching. One of them is the recent financial crisis that hit the country. Today the father and mother of modern capitalism is making provision for 'intervention' to save their financial market from shrinking further.

A global financial crisis of the current magnitude is unique. But two historic events offer lessons for a way out, say economists.

First, move with alacrity. During the Great Depression a protracted delay in aiding banks proved fatal – a lesson Britain and now, this week, the United States have taken on. Second, coordinate globally. The Bretton Woods agreement near the end of World War II became an effective tool for reworking a shattered world economy. Calls for a second Bretton Woods are now being sounded by such figures as Britain's Prime Minster Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and World Bank president Robert Zoellick.

Central to European leaders discussions Wednesday and Thursday in Brussels is this motto: A global crisis requires a global solution. The subtext is that much tougher regulation is required.

Bank of America generates 90% of its revenues in its domestic market and continues to buy businesses in the US. The core of Bank of America’s strategy is to be the number one bank in its domestic market. It has achieved this through key acquisitions. As a result of its mergers and acquisitions, Bank of America is now the largest issuer of credit, debit and prepaid cards in the world based on total purchase volume, as well as the largest consumer and small business bank in the United States

Bank of America is the largest commercial bank in the United States by both deposits and market capitalization. Before 1998, the Bank of America organization that exists today was known as NationsBank and was previously known in earlier years as North Carolina National Bank before being abbreviated to "NCNB" as it branched out of its home base of Charlotte, North Carolina. In 1998, NationsBank acquired San Francisco-based BankAmerica and renamed the corporation "Bank of America".

Representatives of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development stated that currently inflation is a real danger for economies, especially when oil prices have registered a sharp increase. The organization's statement was presented shortly after oil increased by $6 to reach $128 a barrel on June 5, 2008.

"Ministers were concerned about inflationary pressures and indications inflationary expectations may be drifting upwards," mentioned OECD. Its representatives also outlined that a lot of attention should be accorded to fiscal balances. This is crucial due to the fact that inflationary pressures stay on a high mark.

According to the World Bank, it is going to raise at least $5.5 billion together with the governments of the United