Are you, as an investor, in favour of transparency? Of course you are. As a manager and risk-taker, do you want to be rewarded properly for your efforts? Naturally. Would you seize any legal opportunity to become very, very rich? Probably. Do you think these three desires can all be accommodated in one economy? Hmmm . . .

Investors squawk, and rightly so, if pay and performance do not line up. Yet when Stephen Schwarzman, chairman of the private equity fund Blackstone Group, spent a rumoured $3m (€2.2m) on his own birthday party last month, there were surprisingly few harrumphs from the government pension funds that contribute nearly half his investment capital. Had Rod Stewart, brought across for the event at a reported cost of $1m, sung D'Ya Think He's Worth It? to the guests, their answer would probably be: "Sure - as long as he keeps winning."