Could Michael Jackson’s spirit cure the economy’s ills? It is not just Goldman Sachs bankers who have hit the good times. So too has the Michael Jackson look-alike industry. It can only be a matter of time before the government instructs the swelling number of unemployed to don a white glove and moonwalk.

Adrienne Gusoff, who runs the New York entertainment agency Bubby Gram, says demand for Jackson look-alikes is “through the roof”. She has had more requests since the prince of pop’s death than “in all my 25 years in the business”. PD (or pre-death), look-alikes could earn around $700-900 a performance – now it is $1,200-$1,500. “I wish I could clone them. Demand is outstripping supply.” Business often finds itself wobbling along the tightrope between financial opportunity and crass exploitation – one man’s death is another’s golden egg. Just ask Michael’s stoic, iron-fisted father Joe, who plugged his record company just 72 hours after his son’s death. For the last year, Ms Gusoff says, the party business has “sucked”. Jackson’s death has turned things around. “You can’t blame people for cashing in. It’s a tribute to the man and his music.”