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The Finance Curse

How the Outsized Power of the City of London Makes Britain Poorer

Nicholas Shaxson

The Guardian, 2018

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A thriving, dominant sector that draws money from around the world should help a country’s economy and benefit most of its people. But nations that boast abundant natural resources have a long history of passing profits to the wealthy as the rest of the populace becomes poorer. Journalist Nicholas Shaxson asserts that a similar pattern occurs in London’s financial sector, where growing wealth has inflated asset prices, promoted tax dodges and enriched a small segment of the population. His call for change may raise some eyebrows, but it may also open some policy makers’ and taxpayers’ eyes to a significant economic imbalance.

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In resource-rich nations, wealth from oil and other natural resources trickles through to a small part of the population, while the fortunes of most people deteriorate. Economists call this “the resource curse.”
In London, a thriving financial sector has long been a draw for vast financial resources. But the “finance curse” hurts the British economy.
The laser focus on finance draws the brightest workers away from careers in science or academia in favor of high-paying financial jobs, and it raises the prices of housing and other assets.

About the Author

Nicholas Shaxson is a journalist and the author of Treasure Islands and The Finance Curse.

The Finance Curse

How the Outsized Power of the City of London Makes Britain Poorer

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