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# Two views of the City
- URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/two-view-of-the-city/
- Published: 2008-10-20T08:10:53.000Z
- Updated: 2019-02-14T22:41:58.000Z
- Author: Anthony Barnett
- Tags: #en, #Migrated, #Import 2026-04-09 18:49

**Anthony Barnett (London,** [**OK**](https://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/)**):** Writing [in the Guardian](http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/20/economy-banking-creditcrunch?ref=opendemocracy.net) today, Paul Myners who was drafted in by Brown to oversee the government's efforts to save our financial institutions, proclaims

*by taking decisive action domestically, and by leading the debate on a new approach internationally, the UK will remain a world leader in financial services. The fundamentals that underpinned our successes over the last decade have not changed - a talented workforce, world-class infrastructure and an internationalism and openness unmatched by other financial centres.*

Meanwhile, Nelson Schwarts [in the New York Times](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/weekinreview/19schwartz.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/People/S/Schwartz,%20Nelson%20D.&ref=opendemocracy.net) reveals how the US viewed the City, 

*In recent years, as Wall Street boomed, Americans often dismissed Europe as a place for languorous meals and vacations, not economic innovation.* 

London remained a financial hub, of course, but it was often treated dismissively — as a flashy aberration pumped up by petrodollars from Russia and the Gulf, an exception to the otherwise somnolent Continent.

It's an especially interesting read because the NYT is ambivalent as to whether Britain is now to be regared as part of a European response or not.