Running up the greatest hits, brought to you by Google

The technocrats who climb their way to the top of the greasy pole of international finance tend to be surrounded by sycophants who are unwilling to tell them just how insignificant they are.

Mark Piper

       
Enrique Iglesias

But now there’s a new, truly democratic way of measuring a person’s importance: internet search engine Google will estimate how many searches will be performed on any given name in a month.

European Central Bank president Wim Duisenberg, US Treasury secretary Lawrence Summers, Bank of England governor Eddie George, and UK chancellor of the exchequer Gordon Brown all get 600 hits a month, along with financier George Soros.

US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan easily beats them all, registering 3,100 impressions a month.

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