The View | Shanghai-Hong Kong stock link opening feast a rite of self-importance
Imagine what would have happened had the scheme simply been launched by way of a couple of press releases and possibly some glossy newspaper ads. The answer is: more or less exactly the same result
I appear to have discovered yet another reason why I will never become a big league CEO or even a mogul of finance.
This realisation dawned last Monday when, for reasons far too tedious to explain, I found myself at the stock exchange observing the ceremony celebrating the link between the Hong Kong and Shanghai markets. Others are more qualified to pontificate on the virtues or otherwise of this scheme but for me this event triggered far more trivial thoughts.
Coming to think of it however, are they really so trivial? The thing is that this ceremony involved a great many serious finance types, big league business leaders and, of course, the usual bevy of bureaucrats and office holders, who had taken time off to demonstrate the art of balancing a glass of champagne while shuffling around the hall and making a very fine impression of looking both delighted and interested to meet other champagne glass carriers.
Some readers may think this is easy but trust me, like many things that appear to be effortless; this one involves both skill and practice of a kind well beyond my capabilities. It’s no small thing to be able to look enthusiastic and indeed delighted while standing in tight shoes and being subjected to the type of small talk that makes you yearn for the stimulus of reading an electricity bill.
In most other circumstances the big boss can delegate a menial operative to carry out boring and repetitive tasks but when it comes to events of this kind delegation is thought not to be an option.
Many of those who attend are bureaucrats and office holders who almost certainly do less harm when clutching a champagne flute than in their normal course of business.
But what about other attendees who are actually engaged in productive activity? Their number includes some seriously highest paid executives who are compelled to take time out to engage in this specialised glass clutching, nodding and schmoozing activity. Were this activity to be subjected to a cost benefit analysis it surely would show the need for a serious re-think of this crazy business model.
