Arguably one of the great weaknesses of the British and European economies is that capital-strapped banks play too dominant a role in the provision of vital finance to businesses (and households).

BBC: Cable rehabilitates investment banking

When Mexicans first stepped into the role of Colombians in the mid-1990s, the Juarez and Tijuana cartels were dominant, beneficiaries of their location.

CNN: Stakes rise as drug war threatens to cross border

Moreover, some investors point out that India's dominant role in the gold market has been fading in recent years as its imports of the precious metal slowed.

WSJ: India's Wilting Crops Tarnish Gold

With David Vaughan brought in on the left, Ledley was pushed into a central midfield role and the Cardiff man was the star performer of a totally dominant first-half.

BBC: San Marino 1-2 Wales

To appreciate the dollar's dominant international role and why it will be so hard to dislodge, consider that the dollar enters one side of 90% of all the world's interbank foreign exchange transactions.

FORBES: Euroflop

When you look at biology, when you look at the natural world, the roles of a male and a female in society and in other animals, the male typically is the dominant role.

WSJ: Best of the Web Today: Give Us a Break