And the Fed would face the delicate job if explaining to market traders that the short term rate they had been plugging into all their algorithms was variable, after all.

BBC: Central banks: A long way from decoupling

Explaining the decision to market only the monochrome version in the U.S. market, Sony spokesman Ted Kanno said the company sees strong demand for such products.

CNN: Sony targets Palm with $400 PDA

Rather than explaining the cycle in terms of market failure, as Keynes did, real business-cycle theory views a recession as the optimal response by households and firms to a shift in productivity.

ECONOMIST: The causes of booms and busts

This type of attitude perhaps goes some way to explaining why the high end of the property market doesn't always track the local national or regional economy.

WSJ: Europe's Most Luxurious Property

It also filed a suit against Merck in New York, accusing it of flouting American capital-market rules by not explaining its motive for buying the shares.

ECONOMIST: Two historic German drugs firms scrap for control of a third

It can, however, be extremely useful in explaining to investors the realities of the money management business and how investment management firms market themselves.

FORBES: Money Manager Use of Tainted Wall Street Research (Oct 1, 2002 )

The Monday after Mahathir spoke, it took heavy buying by state-run investment funds -- and deft explaining by Deputy Premier and Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim -- to keep the Kuala Lumpur market afloat.

CNN: A QUESTION OF OPENNESS

Even careful Mario Monti, the European commissioner for the single market, wrote a front-page leader in Corriere della Sera explaining that, if Italy is to join Europe's monetary union, the slimming down of its welfare state cannot be delayed for ever.

ECONOMIST: Italy and Europe

This goes some of the way towards explaining why, 11 years after the introduction of the iPod, Apple still has a lock on the portable MP3 player market, but phones are becoming hotly contested space.

FORBES: A Thought Experiment: Why Apple Will Continue to Dominate Tablets