Kings of capitalism

Who really wears the crown now the pain is starting to tell, asks Nicholas Lockley.

We have of course always known it, but contrary to public perception, the real kings of capitalism were never the mega buyout firms that ramped up prices on the back of cheap credit in the scramble for quality assets. Without the banks they are nothing.

And the banks were hardly masters of their own destiny either, caught as they were in a fee-induced frenzy.