One of the most common – and misguided – managerial adages is: “All they can say is no”. “Ask them if the job comes with a jet. All they can say is no.” Or: “See if he’ll work the next four weekends. All he can say is no.” The problem is that, since most people generally want to be helpful in most circumstances, even to ask that question is an imposition. “No” may be all a person is in a position to say, but it is not all a person can think.

That is why hearings on the financial crisis in both Washington and Westminster this week were so taken up with two matters that may seem peripheral to a resolution of the crisis: bankers’ perquisites (especially bonuses) and bankers’ moral culpability. The public reaction to wealthy bankers in both countries is fury. Some of that fury is stoked by the tabloids and television, to be sure, but a lot of it is spontaneous. There have been demonstrations outside the house of John Mack, the chief executive of Morgan Stanley. Rage against the company has only grown since James Gorman, its co-president, was captured on audio on the Huffington Post blog instructing his co-workers on how to discuss their “retention awards”: “Please do not call it a bonus. It is not a bonus. It is an award.”