BLUEBLOOD American investment bank Goldman Sachs, where Peter Sutherland is one of 147 partners, has found a novel way to meet the career aspirations of all the high-flyers that it wants to keep, but are still not deemed worthy of being made a partner.

Goldman has simply appointed 70 - yes 70 - new managing directors, bringing the number of MD's to a not insubstantial 217. It seems that all of Goldman's 147 partners also have the right to call themselves managing director. Americans are notoriously fond of giving themselves fancy titles. As one comic has said, an American who can spell his name is a graduate; one who gets a job is a vice-president. Become a Goldman Sachs managing director and you're at least very well paid even if nobody outside Goldman's is quite sure what you do.