In weak, rich economies the danger is not too little too late, but too much too soon.

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This columnist once heard Mr Welch tell a chief executives' boot-camp that the key was to have the compensation committee chaired by someone older and richer than you, who would not be threatened by the idea of your getting rich too.

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The biggest single change would be the elimination of the Alternative Minimum Tax, a parallel version of the income tax that was introduced in 1969 to ensure that rich Americans could not avoid paying tax altogether by taking too many deductions.

ECONOMIST: Tax reform

Differences over the disputed oil-rich Kirkuk province have still not been settled, so it too has had to be left out.

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But investment has fallen in the rich world too: the rivers of capital have flowed not directly into businesses but into markets for consumer and government credit, where they are presumably doing little to increase the recipient economy's ability to repay the loans in the future.

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And although Mr Obama still has his tax-the-rich moments, he knows he will not be re-elected by lurching too far left.

ECONOMIST: Lexington

Just a few weeks ago Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he did not want to bid for the Los Angeles Dodgers because he felt the price would be too rich.

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Do not focus too narrowly on single issues (ie, tax cuts) or voter groups (ie, the rich), they urged.

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That may be too rich for Kraft's boss, Irene Rosenfeld, who has said that she is determined not to overpay for Cadbury.

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And for the rich, striking a balance between giving their children enough to get a start, and not giving them too much, remains the key.

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