Alex and Ofer assembled a small team and literally got in a room and thought about how to solve the problem.

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Nor was the sharp depreciation of the ringgit (about 33% against the dollar in the last seven months) thought to have posed a problem, because few of the banks have big foreign-currency exposures.

ECONOMIST: Malaysian banks

It would be nice, therefore, to believe that somewhere, the contemporary equivalent of a bored patent clerk is thinking about the problem, and that when he has thought hard enough, a new reality will emerge.

ECONOMIST: Physics

Mr Mori has told parliament he knew about the payments before appointing Mr Kuze, but thought they posed no problem.

ECONOMIST: Japan

About 10, 000 people on the Isle of Man are thought to be affected by the problem of alcoholism, according to a local helpline service.

BBC: Isle of Man alcoholism affects thousands

And a little publicity and financial incentive gets some of the greatest untapped minds to start thinking about a problem they may have never thought they could solve, until now.

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