The former French president, Nicolas Sarkozy only left the Elysée Palace this May, yet, according to his office, he has already had about 70 requests to give lectures at an average rate of $115,000. In October, he made his New York debut as a lecturer. He’s not alone. For the ambitious, high public office is no longer the goal; it’s just as a route to future enrichment. Sarkozy must have thought, back in 2008, before he decided to seek a second term: “In 2012, I’ll be 57. I won’t seek re-election. There’s plenty of money out there — just look at the billions Bill Clinton is making. I’ll be president for fiveyears, and then do a Clinton.”

When Clinton left the US presidency in January 2001, he had $11m of debt, yet when he became a writer and lecturer, his annual income, boosted by book advances and the lecture circuit, jumped from $358,000 to $16m within a year. But the most successful conversion from politics to business has been that of the former British prime minister, Tony Blair, whose political career was both high-flying and inconsistent — he began on the left of the Labour Party, yet ended as a cheerleader for the Iraq war (and “Bush’s poodle”). He has not changed, and his new career is a clever mix of good works and astute business practices.

Blair has revealed in his memoirs that he had “always been more interested in religion than politics”. As soon as he left public office, he showed his seriousness of purpose by meeting the Pope to announce his intent to convert to Catholicism. (The Church of England had always been lacking in theological rigour, since it was originally a political solution to Henry VIII’s marriage and succession problem, rather than a Protestant revolution.) Blair’s Faith Foundation, meant “to foster respect and understanding among religions”, is his preferred choice among the foundations and charities of his system, beside a few other more policy-oriented groups, such as the Africa Governance Initiative, which “works with leaders and (...)