There’s a growing trend toward investments in tangible assets such as classic cars, works by prominent artists, as well as real estate, stocks, gold, and antique watches. Trusted values – whether it be a Picasso or a Porsche – are particularly sought after, in view of rising inflation.

Have you ever heard of the DOX (not to be confused with the DAX) – the German Oldtimer Index, which is Germany’s Blue Book of classic cars.

Society today is concerned with an all-pervading loss of common values, not least in the field of business management. In future, companies must select and pay their managers in accordance with ethical criteria.

Americans are among the most patriotic people in the world. It’s all a matter of upbringing: they can be wherever they want, as long as they remain true to America.

Just before the 2004 U.S. presidential election, a German friend of mine was getting all worked up about the overweening patriotism Bruce Springsteen had exhibited in a New York Times op-ed piece opposing Bush’s reelection, by saying “the country that we all carry in our hearts”.

What makes people altruistic? Scientists are puzzled too. Was Mother Teresa a flat out egomaniac? The question is less absurd than you might think, for didn't the Nobel Peace Prize winner and grande dame of altruism say: "The wonder is not that we do our work, but rather that we enjoy doing it." In other words, Mother Teresa liked her job, a typical trait of the egotist – the only difference being that she loved helping people and wasn't aiming to buy a Maserati.

Russia’s wealthiest businesspersons aren’t interested in leaving their companies to their children, and are instead ready to pack their bags on a moment’s notice. And they’ve already transferred their assets abroad.

When Russian businesspersons talk about their country, they generally say pretty negative things about it and express equally downbeat feelings about the business climate in Russia now and in the future.

We are currently witnessing a rude awakening in newly industrialising countries (particularly those of Eastern Europe), whose citizens have suddenly realised that they were not as affluent as they once thought. And we in the West may also be in for some serious difficulties in the near future.

It was a beautiful story – but also a huge and fatal illusion: the world economy was purportedly a shining example of “all’s for the best in the best of all possible worlds.”