The chance of this result being a fluke is a nugatory one in 1043.

ECONOMIST: The arrow of time

The combination of low Treasury yields and nugatory credit spreads provides an irresistible opportunity for emerging countries to issue lots of cheap debt.

ECONOMIST: Buttonwood

First, with growth nugatory or negative in the rich world, firms have come to depend on surging emerging markets, especially China, to keep expanding.

ECONOMIST: Global movers and shakers are worried about China

They can earn only a nugatory rate of interest on these stocks (by lending them out) compared with what they can earn on government bonds.

ECONOMIST: The trouble with paper money

In bridge, tournament prizes are nugatory even the best professional players typically earn a living by teaching, gambling, or by being sponsored to play with rich amateurs.

ECONOMIST: Mind games

But perhaps in a relative sense British qualms should be seen as nugatory - in that if banking union helps to keep the eurozone from imploding, maybe a bit of single-market messiness is a price worth paying.

BBC: Why a eurozone banking union is messy for Britain

Which is why MPs on the PAC want Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs to be more aggressive in challenging the nugatory UK profits and minimal tax liabilities declared in the UK by the likes of Google, Starbucks and Amazon.

BBC: Is government too scared of Google, Amazon and Starbucks?