More than a few readers of the FT, thinking politicians a useless lot, must regularly imagine “I could do better”.  It must be a particularly tempting line of thought for any “Master of the Universe”.

President? No problem. Those politicians are all second class brains. I, by contrast, run a bond desk/am a successful hedge fund manager/private equity honcho/chief executive of a multinational corporation. After all, if I already manage an operation with the annual revenues equivalent to the GDP of a small country, I could surely run a small country. It’s only logical. Well dream on. Chile ’s Sebastian Piñera, president of a small but rather successful country, is the counter factual that should make such fantasists think again. Read more