Meanwhile, the financial sector-banks, brokers and insurance and credit card purveyors-basks in the sun.

FORBES: A good year for xenophobes

The resort basks in the shadow of Camelback Mountain, named for its resemblance to a kneeling camel.

FORBES: Sanctuary In The Desert: Camelback Inn

This is the vicious circle for Mr Blair to ponder as he basks in the Tuscan sun.

ECONOMIST: Peer pressure

And Italy's new prime minister, Mario Monti, although running an unelected government, basks in the highest popularity rating of any Italian leader in years.

ECONOMIST: Europe and the euro

But while Silicon Valley basks in the golden glow of the wealth spotlight, Houston, TX is quietly minting new millionaires at a fast pace.

FORBES: America's Fastest Growing Millionaire Cities

Messrs Bolton and Cox, to name but two, are among those reputed to have such powers (although neither of them basks in, or even endorses, this reputation).

ECONOMIST: Fund management

Shares of SanDisk have been ablaze in the past year, gaining 125% in value as the maker of NAND-based flash memory chips basks in the sweet spot of semiconductors for mobile electronics.

FORBES: SanDisk Drives Higher As Mehrotra Prepares To Take Charge

South Africa is considered the corporate leader of the continent, and now basks in being included in the renamed BRICS, with Brazil, Russia, India and China as leaders of the emerging markets.

FORBES: Still Missing: Africa in the Global 2000

As Ireland basks in the prosperity which followed its mid-1990s economic boom, the Fleadh has a more relaxed take on what is Celtic, with links a little tenuous at times having as it does ambassadors from Canada (Neil Young), working class England (Billy Bragg) and the United States (Evan Dando).

BBC: A field which is forever Ireland