In fact almost their only concerted actions over the years have been precisely those designed to dismantle the few instruments of control previously available to them (such as those over cross-­border capital movements). On the occasions when they are moved to express concern about the damaging consequences of the growth in money laundering, corruption and organised crime, nobody ever points out that the G7 have the collective power to close down the offshore finance centres which play such a large part in facilitating these activities. Instead their meetings have been reduced to nothing but exercises in platitudinous exhortation based on spurious ­ economics – such as urging the need to hold down wages, reduce public spending and thereby curb inflation as the essential pre­requisites to reviving economic growth.

Given the manifest futility of these conclaves, it is perhaps ­surprising that they have not been abandoned as damaging demonstrations of the incapacity of governments, both collectively and severally, to take effective remedial action against chronic economic failure. However, the fact that this has not happened may reflect a view that actually to terminate the ritual would be an even bigger public-relations disaster, signifying in most people’s eyes not only a confession of helplessness but an abdication of responsibility.