Wall Street enters 2008 in disgrace. During 2007, the US subprime housing crisis triggered bigger problems in credit markets. Several bank leaders including Chuck Prince of Citigroup and Stan O’Neal of Merrill Lynch lost their jobs. Banks in the US and Europe are struggling to recover and to raise the capital to stay healthily in business.

This has big repercussions for the financial services industry. Investment banks have been growing rapidly for the past 30 years, with occasional upsets. The volatility of the industry often distracts from its rise as a contributor to post-industrial economies – particularly that of the UK. It finances public spending through corporate taxes and pays many of its employees richly.