Our congratulations to the actor Patrick Stewart and the film director Peter Jackson on being knighted by the Queen.

Some say it is absurd that modern celebrities are given titles of medieval military leadership. However, we have seen with our own eyes how Sir Patrick defeated the Borg and Sir Peter triumphed at the Battle of Helm’s Deep, so surely their awards are well deserved – although it is ironic that David Niven and the recently deceased Richard Todd, who both fought in a real life production called World War Two, were never knighted.

More questionable are honours doled out over the years to “business leaders” like Sir Fred Goodwin, late of the failed Royal Bank of Scotland, and the disgraced financier Sir Allen Stanford.

It is notable that this year’s Honours List has less “business leaders” than usual.

Yet the contribution that entrepreneurs make ought to be recognised publicly.

No one ever set up a business because he wanted a knighthood or an “OBE”. However it is important that a nation acknowledges that its strength and reputation depend on those who make extraordinary efforts – in public service, in charity, in the arts, and in business life. The last may be the least glamorous, but an economy depends on its entrepreneurs and a nation depends on its economy.

Even the most egalitarian countries operate some form of public honours system. New Zealand abolished knighthoods, but has just brought them back – Jackson’s is the first since their return.

The United States Constitution forbids titles of nobility, but no other country has as many unofficial awards, prizes, and testimonials. At the other end of the spectrum, Communist countries cover their favoured citizens with medals. The French Revolution abolished all honours – ten years later, Napoleon brought them back. When egalitarian revolutionaries objected, he pointed out “With such baubles are men led.”

All nations have baubles of one sort or another. A nation that understands it needs enterprise more than ever could do worse than giving some of those baubles to its entrepreneurs.