The beginning of a new year should be a good time for business leaders to reflect on how they are seen by the educated but non-specialist public, for instance the arts community. A typical talk on BBC’s Radio Three might start by bemoaning the consumer society, with its passion for shopping and the rush to make pointless purchases. It might then bemoan the nervous strain in the quest for economic growth and the lack of time or energy for more worthwhile activities.

But then comes a more interesting twist. All this frenzy of pointless activity is required, it is said, to keep the economy going. Without it, the implication is, production would dry up and jobs disappear, and we would wallow in semi-permanent depression.