The financial meltdown that commenced in earnest during the autumn of 2008 has led many observers, commentators and regulators to question more closely what it is that private equity and hedge funds actually do.

FORBES: Private Equity, Hedge Funds Must be Understood to be Regulated Effectively

Employment consultants say a troubling credit score may cause hiring officers to more closely question an applicant.

FORBES: A Bad Credit Score Affects A Lot More Than Credit

This is because the media master always quickly pivots to another point about which he or she is confident that is closely related to both the question and one of his or her key message points.

FORBES: I Don't Know" Is A Perfectly Good Answer -Media Training

That last step relates most closely to our question.

FORBES: Does Your Job Keep You Up in the Daytime?

For Annan, the question of how to improve governments ties in closely with a defining lesson from his youth.

CNN: Kofi Annan: Still watching over Africa

"We have been truly bunkered down for three weeks, " Greifeld said in response to a question about the timing of his deal so closely on the heels of the NYSE transaction.

FORBES: Not So Fast, Big Board

Closely related to this third group of activities is a critical question that we as a country now face: how to strengthen our financial system, including our system of financial regulation and supervision, to reduce the frequency and severity of bouts of financial instability in the future.

FORBES: Reducing Systemic Risk

Moreover, this strengthening was roughly proportional to the rise in the percentage of respondents saying that they followed the Kosovo question closely.

ECONOMIST: The late march on Kosovo