Of the interior of the apartment we occupied, I shall say but little; that little, however, will help to complete the description of a Japanner's dwelling.

It should then tax all of that as personal income, less the proportion of the car's annual mileage demonstrably clocked up on company business.

Which of these banes of modern business life is worse remains open to debate. But what is clear is that office workers are on a treadmill of pointless activity. Managers allow meetings to drag on for hours. Workers generate e-mails because it requires little effort and no thought. An entire management industry exists to spin the treadmill ever faster.

He tried to make his case by arguing ad verecundiam.