Shoulder pads have made a brief comeback. Jerky electro pop is once again in vogue. So it is appropriate that the Conservatives have floated the idea of a privatisation of state-owned banks that includes an offering of shares to private investors.

New generations customarily revive notions discarded as passé by their predecessors. Shadow chancellor George Osborne was barely out of velvet bloomers and into long trousers at the start of the 1980s. During that decade Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government raised about £47bn by selling off businesses ranging from Rolls-Royce to British Steel. Mr Osborne is evidently tempted to hark back to that high summer of popular capitalism.