But it is a measure of how little inclined the leadership is to trust the market's callous hand operating through such things as mergers, sales and, especially, bankruptcies.

ECONOMIST: Out of the shadow of Deng

In January, when his government was under pressure over the army's callous treatment of ethnic-Rohingya boat people, originally from Myanmar, Abhisit Vejjajiva, the prime minister, told journalists that the illegal-immigrant problem had to be solved.

ECONOMIST: Migrant workers battered by the slump

Ms. COURIC: Others say it's callous.

NPR: Couric's Interview with John and Elizabeth Edwards

Japanese renewables firms' foreign rivals know it would be hard to object to such subsidies without seeming callous, given the scale of Japan's post-quake crisis.

ECONOMIST: Japan's eco-industrial policy: A cloud with a green lining | The

The closest thing to a knife fight has been Mr Gingrich's portrayal of Mr Romney as a callous wrecker of humble livelihoods.

ECONOMIST: Lexington

Until a decade ago America's medical profession had indeed been laggard and callous in providing pain relief to patients.

FORBES: Fact and Comment

And in one especially callous episode, Jobs refused to give founding stock options to one of Apple's earliest employees, even after a fellow employee intervened and offered to match whatever Jobs was willing to spare.

CNN: How Steve Jobs' legacy has changed

The prestige of getting to the top of Everest can sometimes blur a climber's moral judgement, leading to acts of single-mindedness that border on the downright callous.

CNN: The height of teamwork on Everest