Confucius, the Chinese philosopher, said that only the wisest and stupidest of men never change. Most private equity bosses are already showing they are neither too wise nor too stupid to adjust their strategies to cope with turmoil in financial markets.

Cash-strapped banks are refusing to lend money for almost any leveraged buy-outs except to acquire secure companies in the most defensive sectors. Even when debt is available from banks, it is often prohibitively expensive.