Matthew Lynn Matthew Lynn

The decline of the London stock market

Credit: Getty images

There is plenty for anyone in Paris to feel smug about if they happen to look across to the other side of the English Channel right now. France has been able to watch British prime ministers come and go with almost comical regularity. It can supply everyone else with electricity from its nuclear power stations if they ask nicely enough. And it is about to watch its football team cruise to defending its crown at the Qatar World Cup. But there is one more that will make the French especially pleased. Paris has just overtaken London as Europe’s largest stock market – and the UK has only itself to blame. 

The government has paid far too little attention to the health of the London market

According to calculations by Bloomberg, London has just lost its historic position as the continent’s largest market, the first time that has happened since it started crunching the data back in 2003.

Matthew Lynn
Written by
Matthew Lynn
Matthew Lynn is a financial columnist and author of ‘Bust: Greece, The Euro and The Sovereign Debt Crisis’ and ‘The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031’

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