Until the global city has more tax-raising powers close to domestic it will heavily depend on the rake-offs from investment from abroad
No spectacle of pious impotence is more complete than that of London’s Labour politicians railing against the global super wealthy. Their indignation about the power of City privilege,Mayfair billionaires and “wealthy foreign investors” buying “off intention” property from marketing suites in Hong Kong is dwarfed by their helplessness in the face of it.
There are, though, and compensations for them too. Loudly denouncing this Monopoly board London as a menace to the greatness of London as a whole guarantees a hearty cheer for would be mayors from those on the same side of the political fence. What they don’t say with quite such force is that without the flow of filthy lucre down the Thames much of their vision for the city will disappear into a funding gap that nothing else will fill.
Continue reading...,
Source: theguardian.com