Do the people who work in the City of London add value?

[@532bluepeter1]

We live in a post industrial dystopia where one is paid in inverse proportion to our utility to society.

[@MB-xe8bb]

Also athletes, movie stars.

[@GetGwapThisYear]

I duno mate; contractors and tradesmen have been taking the piss for decades, which has helped inflate the property market. Often for shoddy work. Rampant uncontrolled inflation and poor governance has encouraged the greed centred in E14 and here we are.

[@MsMarco6]

@@MB-xe8bb I would disagree with that. Athletes and movie stars generate huge sums for our country. For instance the Premier league is the biggest football league in the world, it's watched everywhere from the greatest American Metropolis to the smallest African village. It brings in enormous sums directly and is a big driver of tourism. It also supports a whole industry around it keeping countless people gainfully employed. Without those Athletes on the field none of that would be possible. People may laugh at the idea of playing a game for a living but there can be no doubt that in doing so they are generating vast spoils for our country. And so if we are to live in a fair society and we believe that a person is entitled to the fruits of their labour then those Athletes should are fairly entitled to their salaries. The real leeches are the team owners who in so many cases (the Glazers for example) take huge profits for themselves whilst doing very little & in many cases actively damaging the clubs. Gone are the days of owners being caretakers of an important pillar of the community, now far too many are merely parasites absconding with the wealth generated by others. And as far as Movie stars go I'll make this point. The film industry made its home in California, it soon after became the richest state in the union. Don't underestimate the soft power the industry creates. There's a reason every visionary, artist, tech billionaire etc wants to settle in LA. Hollywood apart from being profitable in it's own right, acts like propaganda for it's home town & brings vast riches to the area. Not understanding the enormous value of art to the wider economy & a nations standing in the world was one of the biggest mistakes recent governments have made. They've allowed our domestic entertainment industry to wither and therefore we miss out on it's countless benefits.

[@paulperry7091]

As someone who left the financial industry (share analyst) in 1972, I couldn't agree more. I still feel that a major driving force behind Brexit was a fear of the London City based dodgy tax avoidance schemes would be closed down by the EU. Most of the "work" is expended on zero-sum trading games, artificial avoidance schemes, and chiseling undeserved fees from pension funds.

[@henrybn14ar]

Tax avoidance would be reduced to vanishingly small levels if the tax system was fit for purpose.

[@danskkr]

One of the primary motivating factors behind my Brexit vote was to stick it to Canary wharf

[@richardharding8438]

@@danskkr How's that working out for you?

[@scotsam7590]

Yes, 'The Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive' drove the rich in the UK to push brexit. They lied and cheated to keep from paying proper taxes and they'd do it all over again.

[@GetGwapThisYear]

@@danskkr oh dear

[@panicbutton4380]

From what I hear, most science, maths and engineering PhDs are being sucked into the financial sector as quants. It's not just that the salaries are eyewatering, but that there are so few other opportunities and academia sucks. We desperately need these people's skills to address real problems; instead their minds are entirely occupied making the rich richer

[@downshift4503]

I would agree, but the reason they are being "sucked" into it is because the rewards are higher. Given the chance to solve real world problems or being a quants, they'll go for quants (obviously there will be exceptions). They are acting out of self interest.

[@HighWealder]

Whereas in China those engineers and scientists are employed working in their appropriate fields.

[@doreensoutar5130]

The postgrads poached to the city of London was concurrent with the name "masters of the universe" being applied ...post-crash ironically....

[@London-m4g]

Most City quants specifically target their higher degrees and doctorates for employability in the City or other financial centres. I suspect a sizable number would have put their efforts elsewhere (both subject and location) if there wasn't such a large carrot.

[@moreplease998]

As one of those PhD's who looked at the finance sector after realising how poor academia is as a career path if you're not one of the supremely gifted few, the salaries aren't all that great there. I went into engineering themed software dev instead. I have two friends from my PhD days who went into finance and with whom I socialise every Sunday. It's better than academia is for most post grads, at least

[@murunbuch]

One word: Fees. The people in the City of London move money from A to B to C then back to A for no reason. Every time they move the money they charge a fee. Practically none of their investment strategies beats just putting the money in tracker funds and leaving it alone. But you can't blame intelligent young people from wanting to work in The City, when being a hard-working productive member of society is no longer enough to put a roof over your head.

[@alexsmallwood9895]

I think the pension system is making the situation so much worse. all workers get auto-enrolled to a pension scheme they haven't chosen. these funds are invariably are terrible - very high fees, low growth, managed badly, they don't have to been good as you don't choose it. they don't benefit you, they benefit the provider (and your ceo who gets treated to an absurd hospitality package/bribe (with your money) to sign everyone in the company onto the scheme). then for some stupid reason employers and employees have this idea that pension-matching where the company puts extra money into "your" pension if you put more in is good, instead of just paying you a bit more to do with as you wish, which obviously everyone takes as it's free money. this makes the market for shit investments with high fees absolutely massive.

[@curmudgeon1933]

This is also the reason that many financial 'experts' are fine with instability and volatility in the geopolitical realm. If you like to gamble with other people's money, the rewards are always better when the odds are long. If it's your own money, you are likely to be more prudent, but if it's somebody else's money, it's easy to take risks. If you are big enough, even if you fail, the government i.e. the taxpayer can be counted on to bail you out.

[@beggarslexicon7649]

The problem, in my opinion, is that when people make money but do not produce anything, then there is a fundamental imbalance in the society's economy. In a healthy society, people make money by providing goods or services of equal value to the society or earn wages in return for labour or services provided. This is a natural balance. When they make money without providing anything of value in return, then they are, as you stated, a parasite.

[@downshift4503]

The entire system is parasitical. If you have a job, you will be producing excess output beyond those of your own needs. That excess output will typically be distributed upwards to others who get a far bigger share of it than you do. Whether you are caring for people or working in the city, the same happens.

[@OhAwe]

I think it's naive to think that because someone doesn't play a factor in my life that they have no purpose though. Like I'm not interested in pottery, say. Doesn't mean some people aren't Some people might dedicate their lives to perfecting their perception of "the perfect" glaze. It adds nothing of value to me. But why does/should my assessment matter anyway?

[@OneAndOnlyMe]

So you mean like shop keepers?

[@OneAndOnlyMe]

@@OhAwe Agree! I would also add that just because we don't experience a benefit it doesn't mean there is no benefit. Much of the capitalism of the west has helped to lift people out of poverty elsewhere - and yes we did it initially to exploit low cost labour, but the labour costs have caught up now, as they inevitably were going to. We expedited the development of under developed economies, and I don't mind that I saw no benefit to me.

[@OhAwe]

@@OneAndOnlyMe I disagree personally on capitalism. "Poverty" is an oddly arbitrary measure and considers people who are happy living in subsistence lifestyles to be in the same condition as homeless people in cities. When they're objectively not. And the west goes to great effort to undermine the development and progress of other countries to protect its profiteering. But I'm a dirty socialist so don't listen to me lol. I totally agree re the benefit not needing to be for me personally to be a benefit overall though, 100%.

[@SarahBaker-q9k]

"Parasite" is the correct term. And it applies to ALL banks and financial services.

[@ricf9592]

Agree. One group I noted charged an upfront fee of 4% of the value of the money they were given to invest! I mean. They hadn't done a damned thing yet still expected to be paid. 4% of the money they made from the original money seems fair, but that's not the way the rules are written.

[@kmac499]

Back in th 90's I was on the edge of this as an IT bod in a UK Bank.. The trading floor room terrified me because even then it was obvious it was a house of cards built on a shell game maintained by the arrogance and self confidence of the traders.. Then in 2008 the music stopped... for a while..

[@bhasb9067]

The late great Davin Graeber wrote a book called Bullsh!t jobs. He asked "if you stopped doing your job, how long before people noticed?" I suspect it'd be a very long time before we noticed people in the city stopped working.

[@julianshepherd2038]

Take a while if all farmers stopped.

[@bhasb9067]

@julianshepherd2038 Milk?

[@OneAndOnlyMe]

Considering the City trades commodities and energy, if those traders stopped, alarm bells would go off around the world. We would know pretty sharpish.

[@MargaretDeakin-d6m]

Until our political leaders take London back from the bankers and speculaters....at least tax them properly for the hijacking of our major historical city. Put all those highly paid lawyers out of jobs, change the laws that they are able to exploit in their bosses favour. That wealth produced does not trickle down.

[@JaneAustenAteMyCat]

It wouldn't take long if all the cleaners stopped!

[@Barbarossa_67]

Lots of things have got lost over the past 50 years. My father worked in the city in the 1970s and early 80s. He worked for company that was a member of the Corn Exchange. The company that he worked for dealt in grass seed, so when Wimbledon, Lords, Upton Park, or the Highways Agency (for the M11, M25 embankments) needed grass seed, they would come to this company. At this time, the City, it made complete sense (way before the internet). The seed would usually be grown in Canada, or New Zealand, and the crop would need financing ('futures' on the Corn Exchange), it would need shipping - the Baltic Exchange (shipping) was a few streets away, so space could be bought on a ship that was doing that route at that time. It would need to be insured - so Lloyds was close by to get the insurance. It all made sense back then and was genuinely useful. Maybe there are tiny parts of The City that are genuinely useful. Probably not much though...

[@patrickbarrett5650]

Archaeologists considered an address on ‘London Wall’ as a matter of status. Many firms like to quote ‘with offices in New York, London and Paris’ they are probably Shell Companies with shell addresses.

[@davewellings6281]

& Peckham

[@RebeccaTurner-ny1xx]

@@davewellings6281 Hey, an 'Only Fools and Horses' reference!

[@Darlenegay-du7ke]

I'm 51yrs old. $40,000 weekly and *I'm retired, this video have inspired me greatly in many ways that I remember my past of how I struggled with many things in life to be where I am today!!!!* ❤️

[@derrekm1317]

Hello how do you make such?? I'm a born Christian and sometimes I feel so down myself because of low finance but I still believe in God

[@SebastianElton]

It's Maria Frances Hanlon doing, she's changed my life.

[@Javierandres-l1y]

Same here waking up every 14th of each Same here waking up every 14th of each month to 210,000 dollars it's a blessing to l and my family... I can now retire knowing that I have a steady income❤️Big gratitude to Maria Frances Hanlon Maria Frances Hanlon

[@Christophercarrington-j6t]

I do know Ms. Maria Frances Hanlon, I also have even become successful....

[@WilliamsNoah]

Absolutely! I've heard stories of people who started with little to no knowledge but made it out victoriously thanks to Ms. Maria Frances Hanlon.

[@uncletom1971]

Well said. Thanks Richard.

[@SimonWallwork]

They are like fleas on a dog- and we are the dog.

[@BigSunn0]

that sounds like the sorta thing the fleas would say

[@ChrisLee-yr7tz]

Not really. The City is the dog and the Lefties are the fleas.

[@curmudgeon1933]

More like a cancerous growth...and they are killing the host.

[@lancefenton5254]

Here in Australian we call it the rise of middle management they do not add to a countrys productivity they just push paper around and help government to stay at arms length

[@JaneAustenAteMyCat]

That's not the same thing. The City is where you find stock exchanges, financial services and shipping exchanges. Middle management is widespread and yes, questionable, though not if they're competent

[@tlangdon12]

To call the workers in the City that are superflous "middle management" is to completely misunderstand both "middle management" and these superflous roles in the city. Middle Management is a productive job - work needs to be organised and planned. Some of the superflous roles in the city will be middle management, but most will not be. Most will be ordinary workers who report to middle management.

[@MsSpiffz]

I see the City as being the Wealthy's Betting Shop. Where the working class have always been looked down upon for betting on, say, dog-racing, the Wealthy put a lot of their wealth into betting on money itself.

[@philwoodfordjjj8928]

I read Gary Stephen's book "the trading game" which lifts the lid on the City, and it's scary stuff. There was also a several years back, a commodities trader who decided to "corner the market" in grain. He actually caused riots in the near, middle and far East, because the price of flour and bread rocketed in price to the point that the poor could not afford these staples; all that missery to polish a terd.

[@Redf322]

Great book

[@GetGwapThisYear]

Not the City though. Isle of Dogs.

[@RichardBergson]

There will always be people for whom making money is more important than any negative consequences of doing so for others. This is embodied in the narrow view of competition - I win, you lose, bad luck (sucker!). The trick is to keep this section in the minority and align the majority of profit-making with activities that add value to society. Unfortunately, the financialisation of markets set the trend for this parasitic mode of profit making which has been taken up by big internet businesses such as Amazon and KZbin as well as individuals in the form of 'influencers' who all make a profit without producing anything and acquire in their sphere vast amounts of power. Power and money are a very old combination.

[@OneAndOnlyMe]

Businesses need to raise capital to grow. People are happy to fund it in exchange for shares in the business. Shares create a market. Nothing negative about it. If people are going to make and sell things to make a profit, then there will always be markets.

[@stuvu2]

The City of London is not part of the UK.

[@GetGwapThisYear]

@@quercus8833 oo look at you. Edgy.

[@saraj.lineberry199]

Glory!!! After so much struggles I now own a new house with an influx of $155,000.00 every month God has kept to his words, my family is happy again everything is finally falling into place. God bless America.

[@stephanm.johnson3170]

I'm feeling really motivated. Could you share some details about the biweekly topic you brought up?

[@LoveDay-uz6pi]

Yeah sounds impossible, yet with Christina Ann Tucker, I've come to the conclusion that financially anything is possible. I got my self my dream car 🚗 just last weekend and a whooping $320k in savings already, My journey with her started after my best friend came back from New York and saw me suffering in debt then told me about her and how to change my life through her. Christina A. Tucker is the kind of person one needs in his or her life! I got a home, a good wife, and a beautiful daughter. Note!:: this is not a promotion but me trying to make a point that no matter what happens, always have faith and keep living!!

[@ChideraNwosu-jj4fc]

Wow 😱 I know her too! Miss Christina Ann Tucker is a remarkable individual whom has brought immense positivity and inspiration into my life.

[@DoctorMarius-qr3cy]

I got started with a miserly $1500. The results have been mind blowing I must say TBH!!

[@JackieMontes-qn1wz]

I know that woman (Christina Ann Tucker) If you were born and raised in new York you'd know too, No Bingle doubt she is the one that helped you get where you are!!

[@gordonwilson1631]

Another excellent video. The City of London is a state within a state. Look up who gets to vote in their Corporation elections. The head of the UK State must be “welcomed” into the City; ie allowed in. The City is the original Londinium Roman settlement, within the Roman City walls. This whole situation is weird and not a force for good.

[@matthewprince9705]

The City of London operates like the Vatican in my opinion. It's earliest origin was the 800s AD and officially established around 1030-50 AD. It has never been conquered or invaded because it has always negotiated and bargained with kings, queens, vikings and other would be rulers and conquerors. It has outlasted centuries of governments.

[@tictoc5443]

IMHO youre being naive and or one sided in your view The city provides capital for investment in firms that employ people all of whome pay taxes to the largest monopoly aka government Cut the investment and IMO the whole society goes down the toilet

[@Chemdawg0360]

Another great video, Professor! Much love from Canada 🇨🇦

[@corvus1238]

So informative. Thank you.

[@redguitar6062]

What do they do? Through their investment choices Scope 3 GHG emissions of the UK’s financial industries are pumping out 805 million tons of CO2e/year minimum. This is 1.8 times the annual net emissions of the UK and up there with Germany.

[@downshift4503]

It's just the nature of money itself, the system is a giant board game. We didn't evolve to live like this but we didn't evolve to have full time jobs either.

[@HighWealder]

Yes, and as a game there are winners and loosers.

[@downshift4503]

@@HighWealder Indeed.... and its based on luck not fairness.

[@dorcusmallorcus6450]

Brilliant. Thank goodness someone so qualified is saying this out loud.

[@JaneAustenAteMyCat]

The City is the Mecca of capitalism. Fascinating video. I have learnt so much from you in the week since I've discovered your videos! My dad worked in the City when I was a child. He even worked in the Lloyds building for a little while. He actually worked in research, so not quite one of the parasites (he always said he didn't have the personality for it, which is very telling). One thing he used to say was that the vast majority of the people he worked with were from wealthy families. It was not really a case of talent and skill as much as your background and who you know. That can't be good for anyone.

[@DragonWorksOfficial]

I guess that's how other nations felt during the British Empire days providing back-breaking labor and getting their resources stripped for the sole benefit of an island far, far away. Now it's the island that gets exploited for the sake of a more metaphorical island, far, far away, in the center of London. History doesn't repeat itself, but sometimes it poetically rhymes.

[@archvaldor]

There's not really any change there. Populations as a whole never benefited from imperialism carried out by their country.

[@felixarbable]

Capitalism is designed to be extractive and was designed and honed as a tool for empire l

[@indricotherium4802]

Over time as empire-building nations find themselves running out of options overseas, the only colonial population left to govern is the domestic one. Imo, this hangover explains the attitude and behaviour that emanates from Whitehall, SW1 and all the institutions within and around (and brexit makes it worse).

[@felixarbable]

​@@archvaldormany did, especially port cities and so on. But many were also exploited in workhouses and terrible working conditions

[@felixarbable]

@@indricotherium4802 there was a good article by the NYT about howany of the modern manegement practises we see today were really designed in the cotton fields of the American south. Extreme personal targets and so on

[@Ivan-pr7ku]

After WW2, The City restored its status as a world finance center mostly because of liquidity owed to the people of the subcontinent (Pakistan, India) that was never made available in convertible currency as promised.

[@cobbler40]

We all know what happens when they get too greedy. The system collapses and we bail them out to the tune of £897 billion.

[@webMonkey_]

From which we have never recovered

[@VinceLammas]

That's the most important issue ... society has to regulate all industries to ensure the excessive harms thay can do are understood, effectively managed and "great harms" prevented.

[@tlangdon12]

@@VinceLammas I agree with you. And so that society can understand, manage and prevent the great harms that indistries can inflict, we need experts in those industries to be working within the regulators. Much as the tax authorities are always chasing to close the loopholes that allow tax evasion, regulators need to be able to keep up with the new ways that industries invent to do more harms.

[@cianog]

That was the U.S financial system.

[@EvoraGT430]

@@cianog UK bailouts were huge as well.

[@RichardArthurBaker]

Hit 240k today. Appreciate you for all the knowledge and nuggets you had thrown my way over the last months. Started with 24k in September 2024.,..

[@AnicaEmbregts-j3e]

I would really love to know how much work you did put in to get to this stage

[@RichardArthurBaker]

I will be forever thankful to you, you changed my life and I will continue to speak on your behalf for the world to hear that you saved me from huge financial debt with just a little trade, thank you Jihan Wu you're such a life saver

[@HollyGarwell]

As a beginner in this, it’s essential for you to have a mentor to keep you accountable. Jihan Wu is also my trade analyst, he has guided me to identify key market trends, pinpointed strategic entry points, and provided risk assessments, ensuring my trades decisions align with market dynamics for optimal returns.

[@AmirRezaie-d2h]

Jihan Wu Services has really set the standard for others to follow, we love him here in Canada 🇨🇦 as he has been really helpful and changed lots of life's

[@GregFunnell-q9f]

His guidance allowed me to restructure my retirement plan, resulting in an estimated $700,000 more by the time I retire.

[@wildberrygarden]

Surely many of these jobs could be done remotely or in a hydrid set up? If so, what's keeping them there and why the need to pay them London salaries?

[@OneAndOnlyMe]

Because the physical exchanges and their data centres are in London. Doing the job remotely means network latency.

[@tlangdon12]

As someone who has worked in the City in a hybrid set-up, I can confirm that working in an office with your colleagues is very much more productive when engaged in project work.

[@lonevoice]

I am inclined to agree. Resolving it however is another story particularly as the management of the UK economy has been and continues to be a real sh*t show.

[@marcusmoonstein242]

Whether or not a specific job "adds value" is very much in the eye of the beholder/payer, so it's not really for you to say. The economic value of a service is determined by what a willing buyer will pay a willing seller for that service. By definition, the fat salaries CoL finance wonks make must "add value" to the people who pay those salaries or else they wouldn't pay them. For example, I personally think that professional soccer is pointless and that the salaries paid to professional soccer players is ludicrously high compared to the value that they provide to society. But my opinion doesn't matter to the team owners who pay those salaries because those salaries are worth it TO THEM. And they, not me, are the ones paying those salaries. What looks like economic parasitism to one person can look like economic value to another.

[@Thisisahandle701]

@@marcusmoonstein242 I think the only material difference is whether the activity can be classified as "rent seeking" or not. I.e profiteering from regulatory capture, lobbying, or taxes.

[@physiocrat7143]

The big money is economic rent ie a value created by other people. The collection of rent is coercive.

[@markwelch3564]

​@@Thisisahandle701indeed! You're not "adding value for customers" if you're just monopolising a scarce resource

[@physiocrat7143]

@@markwelch3564 Mostly the income is economic rent of land, captured through the mortgage mechanism. Much of the rest is monopoly profit accrued by utility suppliers such as energy and network services.

[@OneAndOnlyMe]

@@physiocrat7143 Not really, because even if you chose to view through that lens, trades flow in both directions, so the 'rent' is not coercive.

[@jonothonlaycock5456]

The city of London corporation should be reformed so it is turned into a normal local authority elected by residents, rather than the feudal hangover where corporations and guilds get to elect the local authority.

[@sirmeowthelibrarycat]

😧 BUT what about the Lord Mayor’s Show, with horses and carriages and fancy costumes and marching bands and dancing girls . . . 🥴?

[@VinceLammas]

A normal council for 7000 residents?

[@tlangdon12]

I'm happy to have some diversity as to how local government is arranged.

[@jonothonlaycock5456]

@@VinceLammas why not the Isles of Scilly is the smallest local authority in England with 2100 electors as of 2021 census.

[@jonothonlaycock5456]

@tlangdon12 as long as it is democratic and corporations don't have votes, nowhere else in England and Wales allow it.

[@HomerSparkle]

The City of London is basically just a glorified casino. And you know what they say about casinos: the house always wins.

[@archvaldor]

I wonder if they do the same thing in Nigeria "Our faux princes scamming people are the lifeblood of the economy!".

[@alexandermoody1946]

The key truth is that the City of London was a very important piece of our history. If we look at how the Welsh would travel East with their flocks for sale and arrange for a system of payment that did not require the risk of carrying gold back home the City served a great purpose in history. The problem now is that the great dragon is very old and no longer nimble enough to be anything other than a guardian of some lonely mountain. This is evident when we look at the loss of transaction fees from some payment methods found in the East with applications like Wechat. So the City and the symbolic dragon either dies or becomes infused with something other that does add value for the lives of people that do not wish to see the City die.

[@jakiairey]

Great job , thanks ! More than interesting.

[@gorseyleas]

The implication of this video is that the socially useful bits of the financial services activities occurring in the City could be performed with far fewer people at a much lower cost. The real question is then why isn’t any one doing this? It would surely represent a big opportunity since lower fees associated with the lower costs would mop up all the business. This needs answering. Also the video comes close to contradicting itself as it states that the GDP of the City is tiny compared to the UK as a whole, which is true but implies that the supposedly socially useless activities in the City are not that great either. Further when you consider that the City is acting as a global, rather then simply UK - centric financial centre, you can see that the wealth extraction that is supposedly happening is even smaller. There are surely elements of truth in this video but I think it much less than is being implied. Furthermore I think that international sport and leisure such as football & popular entertainment (eg music and film) are far more insidious than finance, since huge amounts of money are extracted from ordinary people in order to pay a select few stars eyewatering amounts of money. Football was just as good, if not better in the old days when players were paid far less. This never gets discussed.

[@ThePlanetzyz]

Thank you, I’ve been wondering about this for years. It was when you said ‘other countries don’t have such a thing’ that the light switched on for me. I’m growing more and more convinced that fabulously wealthy people have stealthily stolen our assets and have made us poor. They have no right to that money by any set of values, and it should be taken from them and these financial systems they use should be criminalised.

[@Alex-cw3rz]

Love to see the face on the people who are saying we don't have enough workers because of the number out of work and you pointed out you have 700,000 in a single city alone that could easily do all these jobs as managing money requires a lot less management than we have at the moment

[@lisaabbwtt6118]

Look up Blackrock, they've got their fingers in every pie that exists!

[@ParcBlondel]

AS Richard described their kind of business in another viseo, they are asset strippers.

[@SuperLeica1]

Check Vanguard and State Street as well, the 3 are cross-owned by each others. Creating a Monopoly richer than most countries. And "owning" central politicians in most Parliaments of western countries.

[@OneAndOnlyMe]

They are fund managers so of course they would have have. They manage portfolios of equities that underpin funds that in turn underpin people's retirement plans. I have my pension fund with Blackrock as they are the best at what they do, and because I wanted my pension fund to grow at its fastest rate possible. I'm not concerned about ESG or ethical investing.

[@scottyfive4319]

@@OneAndOnlyMe SO everything is YOUR fault.

[@alanrumble7238]

I couldn't agree more. These people earn many times more than, say, refuse collectors or care workers but provide a far less valuable service to society.

[@downshift4503]

Sure but refuse collectors and care workers would probably resign and take up a high paid city job given the chance (though there will be exceptions). They aren't typically emptying bins etc because they want to spend their lives doing so.

[@Thisisahandle701]

Do we want people emptying the bins? Do we want that more than we want greenwashing consultancy firms or speculators of foreign currency?

[@downshift4503]

@@Thisisahandle701 What is "we"? It's a group of individuals who don't want to empty bins themselves, but expect others to do it for them... then give themselves a pat on the back about those coerced into it doing a "valuable service to society". The person doing the emptying would likely jump at the chance working in forex.

[@Thisisahandle701]

@@downshift4503 "we" means "people who suffer when it doesn't happen" or "people who produce rubbish" more simply "households"

[@Thisisahandle701]

@@downshift4503 What are the barriers to working at forex?

[@robertdyson4216]

An expert confirms my own view. Thank you. How do we achieve this transformation when clearly that 'City' funds our politics, and via a revolving door gives its friendly ex-politicians have a comfy spot to retire to?

[@x0xDarthWyylokx0x]

I am one of those employed in the city. I live in a northern City and work remotely. It's been 3 years and now I feel like a husk, like I have sold my soul to eternal damnation. I have been part of a machine that contributes to a net negative to society. It is a parasitic place that encourages the worst of human behaviour and greed adorned with decadent, ostentatious buildings yet there are many homeless who line the streets. I had this conversation with my manager and I will be leaving in the new year.

[@rb4421]

GREAT CONTENT. You're right on the money! Subscribed

[@06howea1]

Without them who would buy the overpriced coffee, croissants, beer and public transport?

[@ChrisLee-yr7tz]

Nonsense. They're part of a system that keeps businesses running. You might not like it, but without the services that the City performs, the whole economic system would be less efficient. You've also not accounted for the fact that the city brings in money internationally. So part of the money earned is from abroad and the British taxpayer is benefiting from that. Between Lon, NY and Sing, a huge amount of global finance is run through the main centres, each earning money for their respective countries.

[@poornoodle9851]

I assume you mean less economically efficient…ie less profit would be generated? In the past profit was put into productive endeavors. Hasn’t been that way for 40-50 years. Wouldn’t it be better with a socially efficient system?

[@ChrisLee-yr7tz]

@poornoodle9851 I mean there would be less economic activity if the markets weren't so efficient. As for the last 40-50 years...we've never had it so good. Look at everyone's standard of living compared to 50 years ago.

[@doreensoutar5130]

Actually, my mind goes to Douglas Adams rather than Keynes. Three spaceships leave the earth when it is demolished. The people on board were divided by employment. One spaceship goes missing and no-one bothers. I will leave the speculation on who would be on the missing spaceship as an untold spoiler, but I bet the guesses are not far off.

[@jbenn43457]

Be careful of dirty telephones

[@serenth8310]

Except three spaceships didn't leave... they just promised the first that two would follow along later. Also the golgafrinchams landed on earth rather than left.

[@davedave8277]

The City is like castors on a chair. You only notice when they are broke! When did you last have an electronic financial transaction fail? Probably never. That's because 678k people get up every morning to make sure all the money is in the right place at the right time so when you turn up at the supermarket the bread is on the shelf and you can pay for it at the till; along with every other product and service that people buy and sell. Granted some of the salaries seem high for what they do, and at the very top it's who you know, not what you know but at least the government takes half in tax.

[@jackgreene5663]

Spot-on, your best video yet!

[@taipizzalord4463]

UK would have a lower GDP than Spain if not for financialisation! They are better at manufacturing, have high speed rail and a bigger tourism industry.

[@Burbituate]

The bankers always take their cut/fee from the capital invested in a fund before the capital is even invested, a rule change saying their fee is a percentage of the value accrued by their "skilful" management of the capital after each year would get them working for us, but don't hold your breath.

[@neilbowler7866]

What are they employed for....to make money for the corporation, clients and hide the proceeds for both in tax havens.

[@physiocrat7143]

They are rent collectors

[@danciagar]

As an EU citizen working in the City on tech for an international corp, let me tell you that many companies have their European HQ in the City, even if they are not directly linked to financial services or support roles, just for prestige reasons.

[@jimf671]

Parasites! Spot on Richard!

[@txm9441]

Excellent, Henry George and Rent Seeking - always thought we should treat business differently - e.g. protect those who create and support society from the financial economy V Rent Seeksers.

[@ianbigsand7]

Thanks for saying what I've been thinking for a very long time, not that anyone pays any attention to my musings 😢

[@rogerbartlet5720]

I know! Lauder money for foreigners!

[@kdmarrison8845]

Yes, the City of London provides premier financial laundering services for incoming foreign money it is rumoured to be the world’s biggest off shore tax haven

[@Dunskaroo]

When I was a teenager skateboarding around the capital of my US state. I thought it was insane how many people occupy those buildings doing nothing but shifting bits around. 25 years later I’m an accountant but in a factory at least.

[@peterjol]

Almost all societal problems could be solved by making it financially worthwhile for people to SHARE the jobs we would almost all agree we NEED to have done and work much less...putting an end to all the pointless jobs, the useless jobs, the bulls**t jobs.... when we go to work, we would know it is to do something USEFUL ... something we NEED as a society.

[@davejohnston5158]

What does the city contribute to the government tax take? I would suggest that many of the employees don't actually physically work there but their companies are based there. They thrive through smoke and mirrors and the alleged protection of the UK legal system. When trust goes so would the city. I would suggest it is the Usery centre of the universe.

[@OneAndOnlyMe]

Every trade incurs stamp duty. Every second millions of trades take place.

[@davejohnston5158]

I understand Forex, short selling and derivatives pay no stamp duty. Is this correct? And why shouldn't gambling tax be applicable?

[@ChrisLee-yr7tz]

Where on Earth did you get that from??? You think they're reported as UK employees but work abroad? Seriously? You just totally made that up. The industry is heavily regulated, internally and externally. It's hard enough to trade off premises, let alone in another country. Stop making stuff up.

[@davejohnston5158]

@ChrisLee-yr7tz I was referring to remote working within the UK as opposed to all physically working in 'The city' . Are you saying that no-one who's company is registered in the city cannot work from a low tax country as a 'consultant'.

[@ChrisLee-yr7tz]

@davejohnston5158 ok. Odd that you were basically referring to wfh and then moved straight onto the uk's jurisdiction. No. I'm not saying they can't. I'm suggesting it doesn't really happen. I only ever knew of one guy with some influence who did that and that's with 20 years in the industry. And that guy was only influential from running (organising) the business as opposed to steering risk taking.

[@closeencountersoftheweirdkind]

Great stuff!

[@Doerakker]

Looking through a microscope at the financial system you will see nothing but leeches and teeks

[@tictoc5443]

Thanks for sharing your keynsian opinion Others might argue that speculators provide liquidity to markets and that not only can they make huge profits bit also big losses too

[@getmurked6859]

Love this channel sir keep it up.

[@getmurked6859]

You’re like a loyal adam tooze

[@jdeaddog]

“Have you ever asked what is the root of money? Money is a tool of exchange, which can't exist unless there are goods produced and men able to produce them." --Francisco d'Anconia fromAtlas Shrugged. Ayn Rand

[@frogandspanner]

1:50 When I worked in banking in the early '80s, and was head of distributed systems (including the City dealing room at our Lombard Street office) I had many lunchtime sessions with our dealers. They would get in to work at 10am, at 12am go to a nearby pub for a dog roll and four pints, then back at 2pm to lay off multi-millions on the overnights before pissing off home at 4pm. Four hours a day and they earned millions (mind you, I wasn't far behind, then when the Big Bang was imminent I opted for relative penury as a university academic). I hated being a parasite, one of the wunch of bankers (I rowed as bart of the NatWest crew, and our shirts proclaimed "The Weary Bankers").

[@buildingbuddy1]

That all needed saying. Thank you :)

[@jimmorris5700]

More important what they do contribute does it go straight out of the country into Tax havens ? Does none of it get back invested into the UK infrastructure? Is what city are supposedly contribute is that money flowing into the city from everywhere else in the UK so draining it of resources? Much like all these fantastic resorts in poor places like the Dominican Republic Turkey Gambia etc where the money flows into the resorts and flows straight out again, leaving the place and the workers in poverty? this is the question and the answer which is never posed . Probably because the people are in Power and I have the control do not want it to be known but instead crow about our much money they are making !

[@gcvrsa]

I don't think people in the UK grasp to extent to which people outside the UK do not understand what "The City of London" is, and how and why it differs from the city we colloquially refer to as "London". I think it might be worth producing a video specifically on what "The City of London" actually is, because even for people outside the UK, The City of London wields disproportionate influence over the global economy. KZbinr J Draper has a video on the topic, but I for one would like to see more.

[@DavidHembrow]

What do they do? Cream off quite a lot of money from everyone else and put it in their own pockets, as well as those of the rich people they work for. Nothing of any real value is produced there.

[@OffordDarcy]

Sounds like you're definitely in the know 😂

[@physiocrat7143]

They are not altogether parasitic but the "work" is substantially a mechanism for the collection of economic rent - ie wealth created by everyone else.

[@OneAndOnlyMe]

They provides services that other people are willing to pay for. The value is whatever the payer is willing to pay for it. These services wouldn't exist if there was not value to them.

[@tlangdon12]

@@OneAndOnlyMe I think this is Richard's fundamental point - there is value to some people in the activity of the city, but there is part of this activity that is not valuable to society. I think he is implicitly asking the question "Should we allow this activity to continue, or should we regulate so that it does not?" To my mind, any discussion has to engage the people who 'require' the services - if society doesn't persuade them that they should not 'require' these services, if they cannot buy them in London, they will buy them in New York, or Frankfurt or Tokyo.

[@leehumphries7696]

Goods are made/produced and distributed globally by working class people. It doesn't need City traders to make bets/deals on those goods being made/produced/distributed - it happens without them - so the City is surplus to requirements. The UK has let the City grow to big for all the good it does. The City adds no intrinsic value, it just extracts it.

[@physiocrat7143]

The city extracts and speculates in the stream of revenue known as economic rent - a surplus value.

[@VinceLammas]

If the City is "too big" that is because of a failure to invest and grow the other sectors of the UK economy. A friend of mine once took her cat to the vet, worried it's head was "too small". The vet said the cat was "too fat" and suggested a diet. True story!

[@OneAndOnlyMe]

Incorrect. You're assuming every producer wants to operate their own market place, they don't, because their business is the production of a thing. They use the market makers to get the best price for their product.

[@davidmcculloch8490]

The further problem of financialisation adds to this imbalance. When leading companies, such as Apple and Pfizer, spend more on share buy backs than on R&D we see the value of financial services to society being little more than a casino. Yet politicians talk about productivity...

[@williamblackburn6615]

My sentiments precisely

[@RichardBrook-kq8dm]

What do they do? Not a difficult question to answer: they take us all for a ride!

[@alanbudgen2672]

Thanks Richard, a very interesting video. A good question to ask is what does the City of London do for it's residents? It is the last of the rotten boroughs, where residents have virtually no voice and are considered an inconvenience. But without a residential presence, the CoL would cease to exist and be absorbed into other boroughs. I worked in financial services for some years (in between my more interesting career in the arts), and my question was always - what do we produce? The only answer I got was, concepts. Glad I'm out of it. There are many creatives in the City... a tiny voice.

[@physiocrat7143]

Very good as far as it goes, but Murphy needs to cut to the chase. The city is collecting and speculating in Economic Rent - a surplus value. This will continue until the reforms advocated by Henry George are applied. Unfortunately, Murphy has always regarded advocates of the ideas of Henry George as swivel-eyed loons.

[@Andrew-rc3vh]

Very well explained. I'd just like to extend one of your last points by saying because the salaries are so high, this parasite culture sucks up the most talented minds. Taking that talent out of productive industry causes productive industry to stop being productive.

[@TheMutantProductions]

Very insightful

[@piotergod]

I thought that a long time ago but when I tried to say this I was told I was an idiot because markets are the key of economy bla bla bla... Is it possible that one of main generators of inflation are financial services? They make money by shuffling money here and there and by buying and selling same thing for dozen times without producing anything. Have anybody looked at this issue?

[@G_C340]

The Money Changers in the Temple!

[@SPardini01]

Richard, would be interesting to hear what you know and think about this company Blackrock Invesrments.

[@relobmit]

Outlaw charging interest and this problem goes away. Rasing money should be by saving and equity financing only.

[@doroteasilva]

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[@xornxenophon3652]

Germany had 30,000 lawyers in 1960. Today, Germany has 210,000 lawyers. And it is not like Germany in 1960 was a country characterized by anarchy...

[@johnrohde5510]

Insurance should be nationalised.

[@OneAndOnlyMe]

Why?

[@johnrohde5510]

@OneAndOnlyMe because it is something pretty much all of us must have and the oligopoly that supplies it has a huge advantage in information over most of its customers. As it's largely an actuarial matter, there is no reason to put it out to private enterprise.

[@annepoitrineau5650]

Spot on. And I used to live with a stockbroker...

[@Jaymark-gk4li]

The 'City' holds a unique and interesting place in history and law. Worth looking up tbh

[@sirmeowthelibrarycat]

😠 As does Nottingham Castle . . . but without the Sheriff.

[@TonyMarren-o8m]

Even the size of the huge, eyewatering salaries must have a distorting effect on the real economy experienced by most of us everywhere else, much to our disadvantage.

[@richardlabeja]

I've worked in the City for years. Despite huge amounts of money being managed in Financial Services, I've always found the core business functions so meaningless and soulless. Seeing so many homeless people pitch up in the City every day is a reminder that the City does not solve any of the UK's problems.

[@mikecdammit1990]

All the money is in London, doesn’t mean that’s a good thing…

[@nickjcresswell]

I remember the mass sell-off of building societies to big banks in the 1990s. What followed was a period where these assets were traded and gambled like chips in a casino. Investment and retail banking became blurred. No one cared and then the credtd crisis of 2008 happened. We're still paying the price for all the money printing that followed that. In the 1980s you could put your money in a building society and earn a rate of interest higher than inflation. Now, you can't!

[@muzzmurgatroyd]

Regarding Keynes's comment about the valuable transactions only taking 10 minutes a day, I'm sure that with the increase in the speed of transactions that's now down to about 10 seconds.

[@carnmarth1100]

Excellent video 👍

[@DavidRose-m8s]

I call such financial speculation in debt as a wealth proxy happening in these hubs ( Shoulder to shoulder with politicians) an - Auction House Economy -

[@physiocrat7143]

Casino Economy

[@Alex-cw3rz]

These money managers are the actual middle management sucking our competitiveness dry.

[@twogsds]

I understand that there is a phrase "The love of money is the root of all evil".

[@guerillagardener2237]

I knew this most my life, they don't listen.

[@rhysjaggar4677]

The original aims of stock exchanges were to provide ease of entry and exit from investments, in contrast to e.g. private equity investments that are very difficult to exit in comparison to ringing up a stockbroker with an order to sell certain shares at a certain trigger price. Now, they are dominated by pump n dump merchants who aim to create volatility via propaganda, rather than actually being genuinely accurate pricing of publicly listed assets. There's actually very little benefit for many companies in being listed these days - even 20 years ago, many people were talking about privately owned companies being far more honest vehicles for actually creating value through hard work.