They are not being paid to tell their employers -- the citizens -- why they can't get the job done, or why they can't get along with the other hired hands who are supposed to be working beside them.

CNN: Why do we pay politicians for no results?

Regulators would, though, have to ensure that banks didn't buy each other's securities and that they didn't all end up in the hands of one investor.

ECONOMIST: Regulating finance

We've got to wait on other results and our destiny isn't in our own hands.

BBC: Ian Thomas-Moore

"If you look what's happening at other football clubs, everyone is putting their hands up and saying things aren't working, " added Bowkett.

BBC: Norwich City can make more money by going up

These four snapshots suggest rare earths aren't so different after all from any other good or service for which markets set prices and invisible hands allocate supply and regulate demand.

WSJ: Business Asia: Postcards From the Rare-Earth Front

James won't hold hands with people, so Mr Elephant can go in the middle to connect James with other people in his world.

BBC: Autism photographic competition winner