The Pyrrhic Victory of Gentlemanly Capitalism

The Financial Elite of the City of London, I945-90

Bibliographic Data

ID10076397
AuthorsPaul Thompson (0000-0003-2476-2803, corresponding author)
Year1997
Volume32
Issue3
Pages283-304
Publication date1997-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Contemporary History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-0094 • E-ISSN: 1461-7250
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/002200949703200301
OpenAlexW2057753227
LanguageEN
Citations received19

For the last 50 years, the remarkable achievement of the City of London in maintaining itself as one of the world's principal financial capitals has stood out in contrast to the dismal failure of many other once-leading sectors of the British economy. It has been an achievement against the odds, despite first the dissolution of the British Empire's worldwide political and trading network and then the crumbling of its home base in the domestic manufacturing economy. It was a success which demanded a radical transformation of the City's financial techniques and culture: a transformation from the old slowmoving system based on the mutual trust of a gentlemanly British elite, to an incessantly demanding struggle with the ruthless instabilities of today's open global markets. Yet it was that elite itself which carried through these changes: changes which have given the City a chance of maintaining its international role into the next century, but at the expense of relinquishing its own dominance

Capitalism · Economic history · Elite · Political science · Politics · Victory · History · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Law