Since then, however, banks have started to manage their industrial holdings more actively, in the hope of persuading stockmarkets that they are serious about raising returns.
It may be because bond markets are now dominated by other central banks, which are more interested in managing exchange rates than in raising returns.
Improving performance - we estimate that actions taken to date and delivery of the remaining cost cutting programme can raise return on equity from under 4% in 2012 to about 14% in 2014.
The answer there is to raise returns on saving, through financial and corporate restructuring, greater competition and so forth.
Such a tax could be introduced gradually, with the revenues raised returned as reductions in, say, labour taxes.
Allowing a 30percentt write-off in the first year lowers costs and raises returns on new investment.
Unlike Mr. Gore, he would let payees invest part of their payroll taxes in stocks to raise returns.
Running plants longer is one way to recoup the extra cost and raise returns on investment over the full life of the plant.
"We reject the notion that increasing risk is the way to raise returns," say confidential marketing materials provided by an investor.
According to one insider, the other units have been told to raise returns quickly or else expect to be shrunk or sold.Admirable stuff, but might it be too little too late?
However, other sectors abound with sales that are specifically and demonstrably ethical, such as the £8.9bn that went on ethical investments, £1.9bn on organics and £458m on Fairtrade, which raises returns for Third-World farmers.
