Dream destroyer

Did you want to make your bank a global force? Diversify your industrial empire? Renovate an old fund manager as cool multi-boutiques? Or pick a fight with the board? Forget it. The time for bold ideas is over. When recession and financial caution strike the world, it’s necessary to abandon many fine schemes hatched during the boom times. Even frauds tend to come unglued – ask $50bn-fraudster Bernard Madoff or Ramalinga Raju, whose $1bn accounting fiddle at Indian software maker Satyam just ran...