Post v.20

Quite:

Your greed is not good, say Britain and Germany, pointing accusing fingers at thousands of very wealthy clients of LGT, the Liechtenstein bank at the centre of a row over tax havens. But bend your ear and you might just hear, beneath the cries of moral indignation over alleged tax evasion, a compromise - sotto voce. Greed is not good, say Europe's finance ministers, unless we can have 40 per cent.

The state is on the march, in search of ever more cash to oil its creaking machinery. It will even buy stolen property - in this case the client details of thousands of LGT customers, hawked by a thieving employee - if it leads to another treasure trove.