Still, Mr. Collinge underplays the extent to which defaulters bear responsibility for their plight.

WSJ: A Lesson in Finance

It also underplays another key aspect: West Berlin's usefulness as a base for western spies and snoopers.

ECONOMIST: New history museums

But in rebutting the myth that he was a simpleton or a chameleon, she underplays his contradictions.

ECONOMIST: Garibaldi

It gets a laugh, because Broderick underplays it so well, and because you fear it could be true.

NEWYORKER: Home Movies

Mr Krugman's crude Keynesianism underplays the link between firms' and households' behaviour and their expectations of future tax and spending policy.

ECONOMIST: Global economic policy

But in his eagerness to emphasise the anxiety that the Lispectors must have felt, Mr Moser underplays Brazil's tradition of racial and cultural mixing.

ECONOMIST: Brazilian literature

But that number - large as it is - underplays the full economic impact of Sandy's wrath, ignoring both the human and government costs and the unexpected economic boom that major storms can bring.

BBC: Hurricane Sandy: The hidden costs