Just as our ship is coming in, they turn port into a shopping centre

IN recent years the maintenance and operation of much of the vital infrastructure of the nation has been transferred from direct public administration to semi-state companies so that the noble ethos of public service might be cross-pollinated with the vitality and zeal of the market place.

As a transitional and business educational method, this seems to work quite well when the executives concentrate on the task given.

But if they begin to act in a way that resembles a caricature of acquisitive capitalism, dazzled by the glitter and hype of quarterly returns and blind to the wisdom that inspired the very assets with which they have been entrusted, and start to liquidate the land till we feel the ground give under our feet, then it may be time for us to review the management contract.