Business Diary: Lorry firm wins race to the bottom

This is not meant to be disrespectful on the day after it emerged that the son of the founder of the logistics business Stobart has died, but there is no denying its latest transaction is a bum deal. It has signed an agreement with the Professional Jockeys Club that will see it, among other things, pay for a charitable scheme that supports riders whose careers are ended prematurely by injury. In return the Stobart logo will feature on jockeys' outfits – specifically, on their backsides.

Krugman sticks it to Greenspan

It seems fair to say that Paul Krugman, the Nobel prize-winning economist, was not entirely impressed with an article calling for repeal of financial regulation published in the Financial Times on Wednesday. It was penned by Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the US Federal Reserve. "Alan Greenspan continues his efforts to cement his reputation as the worst ex-Fed chairman in history," says Krugman. "To be honest, I didn't know quite how to respond; I was, very nearly, left speechless by the lack of self-awareness on display."

Why did you want that £10m job?

Well done to The Banker magazine for securing the first interview with António Horta-Osório since he turned his back on Santander in favour of the chief executive's job at Lloyds Banking Group. Why, the magazine asked him, had he decided to leave a healthy bank for a wounded one? Why would he want to step down from a bank that was about to float in the UK to lead a rival struggling under the yoke of partial state ownership? Mr Horta-Osório gave lots of answers, but strangely none of them touched upon the £10m pay package it now turns out that Lloyds offered in order to secure his services.

Cut-price lunch for business leaders

More bad news for fat catexecutives, this time from DiscountVouchers.co.uk (though we detect just a little bit of self-interest). Its research suggests that companies are now so hard up that one in three are asking staff to use online savings vouchers when they're looking for restaurants in which to entertain clients. If only the Government really had outlawed corporate hospitality in the Bribery Act.

businessdiary@independent.co.uk