Now, the unruffled American-educated economist is plotting a different kind of future for the company: making sure its taps stay shut long enough to force President Hugo Chávez from power.

Mohammed Al-Saidi, an American-educated economist who heads the country's water authority, has founded his own anti-khat society.

Mr. Hewson is an American-educated economist with a doctorate from Johns Hopkins University.

She is an American-educated economist who only a few months ago warned that a government led by Mr. Erbakan would "bury the country in darkness."

It has been nine months since Mrs. Ciller, an American-educated economist, first resigned, ushering in a period of political instability that was left unresolved by the December election's inconclusive results.

The new president enlisted a group of mostly American-educated Indonesian economists, dubbed the "Berkeley Mafia", to formulate government economic policy.

The crisis began last fall when Prime Minister Tansu Ciller, an American-educated economist, resigned after the collapse of her ruling coalition.

Colonel Quaddafi appointed an American-educated economist as prime minister, tacitly encouraging him to loosen the state's grip, privatize government-run companies, and allow market forces to shape the economy.

Now Mr. Reyes Heroles, an American-educated economist who comes from a family with a rich political history in Mexico, is seeking a compromise.

He's a wealthy American-educated economist who has come home to donate his services to the state.