He stiffens when it comes to the first rounds of group hugging ("Always over the left shoulder, so it's heart-to-heart, " says Foreman).

FORBES: The Guru in the Vegetable Bin

For example, it thinks well of the Labour government's 1998 Crime and Disorder Act, which stiffens sentences for racially motivated crimes, and of the Human Rights Act, which comes into force in October and is designed to entrench individual freedoms.

ECONOMIST: Race relations

The decree also requires tax authorities to look at firms that declare losses in more than one tax year, stiffens the rules on blacklisted tax havens and requires payments made to the state pensions agency to be cross-checked against tax returns.

ECONOMIST: Tax dodging in Italy: Evasive measures | The