The City's best days are behind it

"City cull to leave jobs at 20-year low by next year" is a headline in today's DT business. The CEBR forecasts City job numbers to tumble to 237000 next year down from354000 in 2007. Optimists attribute this fall to the economic downturn and the financial crisis but will it recovery when economic conditions improve? I doubt it. The EU awants banks to hold capital reserves which means less lending so less bankers.

This is bad news for Gideon Osborne. Less bankers means less tax reveneue. Oh dear, the goose that laid the golden eggs ain't what it used to be. That other powerhouse of the EU German manufacturing orders dropped by 3.3% in September so less dosh for Dr Frau Merkel to pick up the tab after her din-dins with call me Cast Iron Dave this evening.

The Open Europe think tank man in today's DT says Germany is losing patience with the UK which the Dr Frau  likens to the old men heckling from their theatre box in the Muppet show. I have nou doubt Cast Iron and Gideon will be raising the spectre of the German taxpayer have to pay for more and more club Med bad debts. If I were themI would be more worried about the 38 million Bularians and Romanians who will be eligible to come to the UK and Germany seeking work and social benefits on 1st January 2013. Still it may distract the media from Dave's texts to Rebekah.