Enterprises may furthermore invest surplus capital in financial assets or real estate assets, especially in times of uncertainty or high interest rates.

Its assets have swollen to $13.9 million from $100,000, and its surplus capital, a rough indication of net worth, has reached $12.2 million.

That is because the traditional sources of surplus capital - Germany, Japan and the Middle East oil countries - are increasingly spending their extra money on themselves.

Don't let surplus capital dictate your underwriting.

Where funds have surplus capital, policyholders will get a share in this distribution.

"And the mood of expansion, and optimism from the 1980's that we profited by, when everybody had surplus capital, has now shifted - and everybody's scared."

But, if this were the main use of surplus capital, it would bring us to barricades, burned towns, and tomahawks, presently.

For Japan, the United States is critical for the export of goods and surplus capital.

Its first quarter 2009 figures were as bad, with revenue down by 40pc and surplus capital falling from £850m at the end of December to £800m.

"A major manufacturer of androids," he said thoughtfully, "invests its surplus capital on living animals."