Alan Greenspan received a standing ovation this week when the former Federal Reserve chairman was the guest of honour at the Bond Market Association’s 30th birthday dinner at Cipriani, a swanky venue in New York housed – appropriately – in an old bank.

The Wall Street bankers gathered among the chandeliers and 60ft marble columns (it is not exactly your local branch) were of course honouring the man known as the Maestro and quite possibly the greatest-ever central banker. But it was difficult not to reflect that the applause also came during a week when markets have voiced ever greater criticism of his successor, Ben Bernanke.