The Visible Hand, Spring 2005, is a publication of the Cornell Economics Society. In this issue the following Economic Trends and Policies are explored: (1) "The Recent Surge in Mergers and Acquisitions" by Linda Pedersen ... (2) "New Luxury: Like It or Spike It?" by Olivia Liang ... (3) "The Common Agricultural Policy and Struggling International Agricultural Economies" by Katherine DeWitt ... (4) "Financial Integration: A Road Towards Growth or to Increased Vulnerability and Poverty?" by Madhurima Bhattacharyay ... (5) "The Role of Economics in the Origins of the Civil War" by Adam Sasiadek ... (6) "Economic Interstate Conflict: The World Trade Organization and Dispute Settlement - Evaluating Schools of Thought" by Neelu Toor ... (7) "Privitization of Social Security" by Jerry Shih ... (8) "Capital Punishment as a Deterent to Murder" by Ali John Ghassabeh ... (9) "The Good Samaritan Law and the Duty to Rescue: A Cost-Benefit Analysis" by Vincent Wong ... (10) "NO! to Internet Taxes" by Jarett Goldman ... (11) "Exchange Rate and Current Account Imbalances in China and ASEAN: Are They A Problem?" by Ray Wang ... (12) "The Development of the Chinese Auto Industry" by Samson Cheng ... (13) "The Investment Landscape for Foreign Acquisition in the Chinese Banking Industry" by Rosy Ko ... (14) "The Future of ASEAN?s Economy: Growth through Foreign Direct Investment" by Thummim Cho ... (15) "Online Auctions: Changing the Face of Game Theory" by Dan Tevet ... (16) "Behavioral Economics: A Look into this New Course and Professor O'Donoghue" by Tulika Kumar.