For those expecting detail on what will replace the old fiscal framework, Mr Darling's lecture was a let-down.

ECONOMIST: Public finances

But then the airwaves went eerily quiet and for an hour nothing was heard from the Chancellor Alistair Darling - an old friend of Geoff Hoon - or Home Secretary Alan Johnson - many MPs' preferred replacement.

BBC: Full Story: Brown's leadership challenge

Bersani could have possibly led his party to a far stronger showing if he had allowed Matteo Renzi, the 38-year-old mayor of Florence and center-left darling to run in his place.

CNN: Italy tumbles into 'chaotic uncertainty'

Next morning, I stand on Bourke's reconstructed old wharf and look down at the olive-green Darling River.

ECONOMIST: A land of drought

Since directing and writing The 40-Year-Old Virgin in 2005, he has become a studio darling, putting out cheap, funny films that earn five to seven times their budgets.

FORBES: Magazine Article

For the Conservatives, George Osborne said Mr Darling was "proving quite a defender of the old model of finance".

BBC: Treasury questions

Mike Yavonditte is quick to dismiss chatter about his 5-month old company Hashable, a mobile networking site, becoming the darling or breakout company of the 2011 South by Southwest Festival (SXSW) in Austin, the so-called spring break for geeks.

FORBES: Hashable: South by Southwest's 2011 Breakout Company?

Amazon.com, that New Economy darling, announced it would lay off 150 workers, while Old Economy stalwart Lockheed will shed 2, 800.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia | Davos 2000: Hail the New Economy

The most recent darling of workplace design watchers is Valve, a game design company that takes the age-old game of anti-authoritarian organization design to a whole new level.

FORBES: An Organization Design Renaissance