From the Publisher: Dec 5 1988

Greed is good. Or at least that's what wheeler-dealer Gordon Gekko told a stockholders' meeting in the movie Wall Street. Stephen Koepp, the editor of our Business section, is not so categorical. This week's cover stories on the biggest takeover battle in U.S. history gave him a chance to explore an important question: Is the lust for bigger and bigger deals harming the U.S. economy? Says he: "A healthy appetite for profits is what makes capitalism work. But at these levels, is it just a power game, in which money is a means of keeping score and the deals themselves are...

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