That stark disagreement - over whether the economy may be sinking into recession or will right itself - was underscored by today's turmoil in the bond market and a 34-point tumble in the Dow Jones industrial average.
That stark disagreement gave birth to a tangled $10 million libel lawsuit, filed nearly a decade ago by Mr. Masson.
But the continuing talks here also exposed stark disagreements that left diplomats wondering whether they could emerge with much more than a commitment to keep negotiating.
Currently the Kataeb is in stark disagreement with Hezbollah over many of its domestic and regional policies.
The two sides' starkest disagreements looked back at Mr. Bloomberg's term, not forward.
Nearly everyone agrees that mismanagement is a large part of the answer, but there is stark disagreement on the extent of the problem.
The stark disagreement extends even to what happened to Annie's body after her death.
But the American approach is already creating stark disagreements even by the standards of particle physics, a field not known for social niceties.
How members of the media have performed - and how the public fared - is a subject of stark disagreement.