The answers offered by an analysis of the past are more general; they relate to scale and they are actions that we can take on board, though we may not like their message.

Nobody should underestimate the scale of BP’s mistake, nor the damage that it has caused. But if the president does not stand up for due process, he will frighten investors across the board.

"Until you get scale, it's just too hard of a business to work," said Tom Andrus, who is on the board of Rhapsody.