So great is the demand in a world where new organisations spring up almost daily, and firms are increasingly known only by strings of initials, that there are simply not enough to go round.

ECONOMIST: AA (acronyms anonymous)

Opponents of these reforms argue that there is simply not enough work to go round.

ECONOMIST: Five million reasons to worry | The

He points out that when there were not enough jobs to go round for white Swedish building workers, the government offered tax relief on home refurbishment, causing a boom in the industry.

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The easy answer is that, after years of under-investment by producers, particularly during the technology boom of the 1990s when most investors considered base metals dirt, the world has finally woken up to the fact that there are not enough raw materials to go round.

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The other anti-Panglossian argument may be more worrying: for a while at least, there may not be enough gas to go round.

ECONOMIST: Russian gas and Europe

"In fact, if the gloomy predictions for the housing market next year are accurate, then there may not be enough work to go round, " he added.

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National Grid, which distributes energy, gave warning for the first time that there might not be enough gas to go round and some big industrial users had to cut production.

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