A whiff of hypocrisy

Chancellor Alistair Darling doesn't like them. Italian prime minister Romano Prodi and EU trade comm...

Chancellor Alistair Darling doesn't like them. Italian prime minister Romano Prodi and EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson don't either. Sovereign wealth funds, the huge pools of capital built up by a small group of mainly oil-rich nations to invest their assets around the world, are becoming very unpopular. As the funds grow in power and wealth, the clamour for more regulation of their investments will only get louder. It's all nonsense. The funds don't pose a threat to anyone. There is no coherent case to be made against them. And any cure is likely to be worse than the problem it...