Tales from the Vienna woods

Hotel Intercontinental Wien, Johannesgasse 28, Wien, Vienna, Austria

The strangest thing here in old Vienna is how many guys come up to me and ask after our president, old Mr Schicklgruber, they tell me they do not see so much of him these days but they always feel he is misunderstood, they admire the way he builds a second career as a banker, and how is he keeping now he is in his eleventh decade?

What must happen is they read our bank's name off my conference badge and put two and two together, I am here for the International Monetary Conference, not the IMF but smarter, and more exclusive too, just a hundred-odd guys like me who run the top commercial banks, plus Gerry Corrigan from Goldman Sachs, on account we figure he soon may have money to leave on deposit.

In the day we have debates and in the...