Graham Bentley: Beware the adulteration of academia to flog annuities

Some readers will be old enough to remember Zanussi's advertising slogan from the 1980s - "The appliance of science". Sales and marketing have long understood how a product can gain gravitas when associated with science, but all too often it's the pseudo-variety - the cosmetic industry is a prime example. Putting a white coat on the protagonist gives him or her a measure of apparent authority. The financial services industry has increasingly looked to associate their cause with figures of academic authority in the hope of adding weight to its message. Markowitz (Modern Portfolio Th...