Roses with their thorns stuck out everywhere, and the lilies, whose columnar stalks the girl had bunched at the center, shot up through the top of the bouquet like, like, like like insane trees towering above some insane world, he thought.

NEWYORKER: Another Manhattan

The world is also still up to its neck in securities that yield something over and above government debt.

ECONOMIST: Buttonwood: Curve balls | The

None of the above, according to the 10 billionaires we interviewed in recent weeks leading up to the publication of our list of the world's wealthiest.

FORBES: Billionaires Speak Out