By contrast, the engine designs for a putative Concorde 2 had a revolutionary double-fan arrangement that would have gone a long way to cutting the noise.

ECONOMIST: Supersonics on the back burner | The

If all this had happened at a company in the US, where boards are more fastidious about the behaviour of executives and where investors are also pretty hot on punishing executives who cross a putative ethical line, this would already be a hot issue.

BBC: Should RBS revisit Sir Fred's pension?

This suggests that the right role for government is not to shower money on a handful of putative winners but to take a portfolio approach: finding companies on the margin of exporting and helping as many as possible overcome the fixed costs of entry.

ECONOMIST: How the government can help things along