What Japan has done to the car industry, India is doing to the software/support industry, can also be done by China et al to the financial services industry. Granted it takes time, but it is happening and will continue to do so.
There is a nexus of skills involved, but these are largely location independent. Indeed, because the raw materials - cash, confidence, trust, knowledge, contacts etc - don't have to be shipped around like Oil or Steel - this sort of industry is far more mobile and location independent than any previous one.
London's main comparative advantage is an historic one - and that is going the way of the British empire, Sterling and the Gold standard. notes from no w here
Frank Schnittger:
London's main comparative advantage is an historic one - and that is going the way of the British empire, Sterling and the Gold standard.
Yes and no.
The City thrived despite the passing of the British Empire, gold and sterling, and are quite capable of thriving beyond the passing of the US Empire, the Dollar and Cheap Oil.
Do not underestimate the breadth and depth of knowledge and experience there, and also - I believe - a flexibility of thinking to be found nowhere else. In order to be and remain unproductive and yet rich, considerable creativity and ingenuity are necessary. I think the the City may yet evolve with financial markets into their next - networked - phase.
I suggest that the reason the City Corporation realised they needed to engage with the Glasmans of this world is that they may have seen the writing on the wall....
I think it might yet be the case that...
"The City is Dead! Long Live the City!" "Any economic unit can emit money. The serious problem is to get it accepted" Hyman Minsky
