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Over the years, Washington D.C. has gained a reputation as being one of the "go to" cities for jobs in the United States. Millions of people have moved to this metro area over the last 15 years in search of stable government jobs and the much larger number of private sector jobs that are supported by the economy here. Many people have come to view Washington D.C. as a kind of safe haven from the recession and stagnant economic growth that much of the U.S. has experienced since 2007.
So, if you're outside the U.S., do you see this phenomenon occurring in your country as well? Is there a similar dynamic working with respect to your nation's capital city? How is your nation's capital city viewed in general?
Like the rest of us, he is no doubt mesmerised by the way London has become, in scarcely a decade, not an independent city-state as some would wish, but the undisputed capital of the world. There is now no city to rival its attraction as the place the hyper-wealthy and successful gravitate to. A weak pound, capital markets searching for a place to park their wealth, the uncertainties of the eurozone all contribute.
More than that, though, London is the global sweet spot where legal certainty, tax efficiency, cultural attraction, social tolerance and educational potential come together in such an enticing formula.
Canada's capital city of Ottawa has always been like this, though there are peaks and valleys. Currently it is in a valley and is growing more slowly because we have a Conservative government that has made cuts to the public service. But historically the peak periods have been much more numerous and longer - even dominant.
Definitely, but I don't know if London has ever been viewed as a place for stable government jobs.
London's prosperity seems to stem more from it's other sectors, not so much from the public administration field. Easier to compare to purpose built capital cities where administration is dominant.
London's the place to be if you want to look at people that are much more well than you while you struggle to make ends meet, so London isn't void of issues that plague other parts of the UK...
London's the place to be if you want to look at people that are much more well than you while you struggle to make ends meet, so London isn't void of issues that plague other parts of the UK...
So, who do these well off people in London tend to be? Are they bankers, stockbrokers, lawyers, doctors? Is it mainly people who've had wealth in their families for centuries, or brought their wealth over from other countries?
So, who do these well off people in London tend to be? Are they bankers, stockbrokers, lawyers, doctors? Is it mainly people who've had wealth in their families for centuries?
Its probably not just the case in London but in Washington DC, Paris etc a lot of the well off people are most likely the ones that have wealth in their families for generations, are bankers, lawyers or politicians.
If someone from let's say Hull wants to move to London they'll either have a job offer there or be moving because they have the money to gentrify the an area pricing all the less well of people out (rising house pricing)
So, who do these well off people in London tend to be? Are they bankers, stockbrokers, lawyers, doctors? Is it mainly people who've had wealth in their families for centuries, or brought their wealth over from other countries?
A lot of people in London are employed in the financial services industry - the wealthiest place in the UK is the square-mile City of London, (arguably) the world's premier financial centre, but it also attracts a lot of wealthy foreigners who buy up central property or build skyscrapers for the super rich. It's a good place to be a doctor or a lawyer too - especially the latter, but even many of these people are finding it hard to afford central London properties.
London's status as a safe-haven for wealth and jobs is more tied to its status as the UK's biggest city by far. Even if the capital was some other city like Birmingham, London would probably be the largest city regardless and attract people from all over the UK and the rest of the world. The only difference would be that government workers such as Members of Parliament and the Prime Minister himself would live elsewhere.
Although as P London mentions, London is not immune to the problems facing the UK as a whole and if anything usually has more problems due to its massive population - it has the highest levels of child poverty in the UK, around 37% of all London children live in poverty, and it has higher-than-average unemployment despite its growing economy, but it's got over 8 million people so this is to be expected.
If you want a stable job that pays well in a nice area, then your best bet would be to move to one of the counties bordering London - lots of private sector jobs (rather than public sector jobs which are prone to government cuts), cheaper than London itself, good rail connections to central London etc.
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