The chief executive stood at the podium before an audience of restive reporters. “The results are unacceptable,” he conceded, before promising to do everything in his power to address the situation. On radio and television news bulletins, pundits blamed the crisis on lack of investment, slow decision-making and poor co-ordination.

The drama is played out every week in New York, London and Tokyo. In this case, however, the CEO in question was running not a joint stock corporation but the government of the United States. President George W. Bush was trying to explain not why earnings were below expectations but why New Orleans, a city of half a million people, was below several feet of water. Action was needed not to restore margins but to save lives.