Business Diary: Roll up, roll up to King's sideshow

Three months into the coalition Government, Bank of England Governor Mervyn King's quarterly Inflation Report this week should be interesting. Having campaigned for the Government to institute early cuts, will he give the thumbs up to its efforts so far – or shed any light on how he managed to sign Nick Clegg up to the cause so easily when the Liberal Democrat leader had opposed cuts so vociferously during the election campaign? All the noise certainly distracts from the fact that the Bank still hasn't got on top of inflation.

Good enough for Her Majesty...

It is good to see that, after all the opprobrium thrown their way over the past couple of years, bankers do not seem to have developed a sense of shame. Doing the rounds of the internet is a wonderful clip of a banker being interviewed at a City party last week about how he has been affected by the recession. "I've had to downgrade to Windsor," he complains, much to the chagrin of the interviewer, who explains that this is where she herself lives. The dear chap carries on regardless.

Bankers lacking self-awareness

The party in question was organised by Square Mile magazine and the advertising featured pictures of Gordon Gekko from the 1980s film Wall Street. Incredibly, getting on for 25 years after the first movie was made, people in the City still don't seem to understand that it was not a tribute to their activities but a devastating critique of their greed and immorality.

Watch out for the nippers

Parents with a few quid often book business-class tickets when flying long-haul – because it is so much easier to entertain the little ones when there's a bit more space and a swankier entertainment system. Still, maybe airlines might want to think about equipping passengers with a bit of protection. A 67-year-old customer of Qantas has just successfully sued the Australian airline after a child sitting near him screamed so loudly that his ears began bleeding.

businessdiary@independent.co.uk