Briefing | The City of London

Britain’s sluggish stockmarket

Why London is no longer the world’s bourse

IF BRITAIN’S TWO truly world-beating exports are entertainment and finance, 2005 was a big year. Its bestselling album was “X&Y” by Coldplay, a British rock band. “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” sold more copies in its first 24 hours than any novel before it. “Peppa Pig”, a children’s television programme set to become so popular that American parents would complain it was giving their children British accents, made its transatlantic debut.

This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline “Britain’s sluggish stockmarket”

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