It has been said of Nokia that the nationwide infrastructure that has emerged in Finland over 25 years is more valuable to the nation than the company itself. You can't be me, I'm taken
Yes, some people are robots who are mobile and transferable. But there are not enough of them imo to duplicate a City of London in another city - at least not within a decade. You can't be me, I'm taken
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
Financialisation can't happen without a significant existing overclass, and it takes at least a couple of generations for a potential overclass to become significant enough to make financialisation possible, and another couple before the overclass becomes large enough to start being able to use financialisation as a big stick with against local democracy.
Until that happens you're more likely to get Big Man Syndrome, which isn't any less dictatorial, but is much more difficult to do business with if you're not part of the Big Man's family and network.
