London under siege (TT Nov08 p24-26)

After the financial tsunami of recent weeks, what are the prospects for London’s future as a major financial centre? In the short term, they appear pretty bleak. The UK’s financial sector is set to contract (or “de-leverage”) dramatically, and its earnings and contribution to the economy will also shrink. Indeed, it has become clear that much of the profit the City generated over the past few years has not been genuine.