At the height of her powers, Margaret Thatcher had a motto that encapsulated her determination to bring the discipline of the free market to Britain: coal mines had to be closed and lossmaking state-owned industries had to be privatised. There is no alternative, she used to say.

Her words came to mind last week when Sony announced that its profits to the end of March would be 31 per cent lower than it expected earlier this year. It blames the decline on falling prices in consumer electronics, caused by the move to digital products. These are now so easy to assemble from standard parts that Sony cannot maintain the premium it commanded in the analogue world.