Don’t blame hedge funds for world’s woes

May 2, 2010

There is a famous scene in Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes when our hero attacks windmills that he imagines to be giants. The idiom "tilting at windmills" is derived from this scene, and is used to illustrate the folly of attacking imaginary enemies.

The phrase was used by Treasury minister Lord Myners to criticise Europe’s proposed Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive. He said the regulation "tilted at mythical windmills and at times panders to prejudice." ... (read more)