NRO has a nice piece on John Allison of BB&T, a bank that he guided well with the precepts of Ayn Rand’s philosophy of rational self-interest.

Allison was responsible for establishing university chairs for professors who would bring the understanding of capitalism and Rand’s philosophy to students. For example, George Selgin (whose stupendous book Good Money I reviewed in Regulation magazine — scroll down to the second review in the issue) was BB&T professor at West Virginia University. (I understand that he’s returning to the University of Georgia this fall.) An interesting point in the piece is the comment by a sociology professor who was unhappy about having BB&T’s funding for teaching about Rand’s philosophy on the grounds that it’s “an extreme philosophy.” Sorry, but it makes no more sense to discard an idea because it can be labeled “extreme” than to accept one because it’s “moderate.” I’d wager that Allison would clean that professor’s clock in a debate over the merits of Rand’s views on ethics, economics, and the role of government.

One more point worth mentioning apropos of Allison’s philosophy and business practices: he refused to lend money for projects where the land had been acquired through eminent domain. Allison believes that it is immoral for private parties to acquire land (or anything else) through the use of force and declines to participate in the financing of construction projects where a company has talked politicians into using eminent domain so they can get the land they want through coercion. That’s an admirable stance and I wish more banks would take it.