Alan Greenspan, the former US Fed chairman, gave the world the phrase “irrational exuberance”. Paul Walsh, the Diageo chief executive, has long billed himself as a purveyor of “affordable indulgence”. His point is that even as economies wax and wane, consumers are both willing and able to keep coming back to the the Diageo drinks cabinet. Mr Walsh has made a virtue of this consistency. The dynamic duo of Johnnie Walker and Captain Morgan - together with a clutch of other brands - keep on driving Diageo’s impressive expansion. Profit margins may not be rising as steeply as some might like, but the investment in emerging markets continues to pay off: more Guinness is now sold in Nigeria than Ireland.

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