This week’s publication of the Pandora Papers, the largest glimpse so far of the hoarding habits of the ultra-rich, has sent ripples through the oligarch world, or at least under it, with dozens of billionaires scuttling up to the poop decks of their quinqueremes to fire off semaphore messages saying: “Good lord, did you see that poor old Squishy’s down to his last 50 bar? I told you that was paddlefish caviar at his soiree last year!”

The investigation into where the world’s least expert tax dodgers stash their loot has been presented as something of an exposé, and it certainly seems to have involved some dogged and excellent journalism...