But that the job of arbitrating should be completely sown up by just three agencies which, by the way, are unregulated in the way they conduct themselves, seems perverse.It is not even as if they are any good at what they do. All three agencies famously missed the Far Eastern crisis, moving to downgrade their ratings only long after the balloon had gone up, and in the telecoms sector they made a complete horlicks of the 3G licence auctions. If the agencies had cut their ratings at the time the British and German auctions were going on, as they should have done, they might actually have done some good. The effect would have been to reduce access to capital which would in turn have restrained the auction process and stopped everyone overpaying as horribly as they did.The big three owe their position largely to lethargy. Most big lenders and investors strictly regulate their subscription to bond issues according to the rating afforded by the agencies. It thus becomes impossible for an issuer to interest investors at all unless they have paid at least one of the agencies to credit rate the debt.

The effect is to place the agencies in an incredibly powerful position. They are gatekeepers to the capital markets, and very poor ones they are too. The time to have downgraded BT was when it was betting the ranch on 3G and overseas acquisitions, not now that it is taking the necessary steps to restore financial stability.The allure of goldGold. Ah the look of it, the feel of it, and the eternity of the world's oldest and most enduring form of money and adornment.

That's the way the World Gold Council want you to view the stuff, anyway. To that end it is spending $55m on an advertising, PR and marketing campaign to spread the metal's rightful image as a thing of "radiance, beauty and spiritual richness". According to the World Gold Council, which represents the major producers, the word gold has become devalued in recent times through overuse in brand promotion, from breakfast cereals to credit cards. It's time to fight back.As it happens, gold is already experiencing something of a renaissance Demand for gold jewellry is at record levels worldwide However, that's little thanks to the West. It is in India and the Far East that gold sales continue to excel, and it is not hard to figure out why. In recent years, gold has been a quite spectacularly poor investment, in dollar terms at least.