According to a diverse panel of executives at the conference, however, these quandaries need some perspective and a dose of realism.

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If these bureaucrats felt the pain of taxes, perhaps we would get a better dose of realism in IMF attitudes and recommendations.

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The lessons are countless, because the story is told with a heavy dose of realism.

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Many such leaders of the left "have not given up their ideas, but they've bathed them in a big dose of realism, " said Mr. Hoyos.

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But from Mr Bowles comes a cold dose of Washington realism, and what seems to be the prime driver of his pessimism.

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If lessons learned then had been incorporated into military and political thinking, it would have injected a much needed dose of realism at an early stage.

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And after all, the leading spokesman for Realpolitik used to be Henry Kissinger, who has since declared that realism needs to be tempered with a dose of American idealism.

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