London learns to share the spotlight
First published in the 2007 launch edition, we’re revisiting our Wealth Report predictions 20 years on.
If the mid-2000s marked the start of the plutonomy era, the UK capital was where it took shape.
A mix of pre-financial crisis confidence, free-flowing capital, and light-touch regulation led the 2007 edition of The Wealth Report to describe London as the 鈥渄e facto capital of the new plutonomy鈥�.
The first stress test for London was the 2008 financial crisis, followed by Brexit, the pandemic, and a prolonged period of political instability. Each episode sparked predictions of decline that ultimately proved unfounded, but the city has had to shift to make space for emerging competitors.
