The Occupy Wall Street movement has been a lightning rod for Americans who feel angry about the status quo. But if Paul Volcker, the former Federal Reserve chairman is correct, it is not just Wall Street that deserves placards. He quips there should also be an “Occupy K Street” camp to protest the power of lobbyists who work in Washington, along its (in)famous K Street.

Mr Volcker should know. A couple of years ago, President Obama invited him into his financial reform team, where he launched a crusade to split up banks’ proprietary trading businesses from deposit taking. This unleashed furious protest from lobbyists hired by banks. As a result, the “Volcker rule” may be watered down.

But the issues around K Street reach wider than the banks. Last week, Columbia Business School held a conference on the interface between business and politics, where Sharyn O’Halloran, a Columbia professor, revealed that businesses have recently been spending $3.5bn a year on lobbyists, double the level of a decade ago. There are now about 15,000 full-time lobbyists in Washington (using a narrow definition of the term), also a sharp increase. K Street has seen job growth even as the economy ails.