Alistair Darling to meet City bankers in Davos
Alistair Darling will meet an elite band of City bankers in Davos on Friday amid concerns that the UK government, and the US government, are hitting the financial sector too hard and will hold back a recovery in the worldwide economy. The UK government's windfall tax, a call for a new Tobin tax and the US government's banking tax levy has certainly caused concern within the financial markets and increased the cost of running a financial operation in the UK and the US in particular.
Even though the banking sector as a whole has become public enemy number one around the world there is no doubt it has been at the forefront of the worldwide economy for many years. It is difficult to contemplate how the worldwide economy can "pick up any slack" if the growth of the financial sector is held back. This is something which governments around the world are now starting to appreciate although attempts to mix sustainable regulations and curry favour with the general public is proving very difficult to perfect.
It is almost inevitable that we will see the government in the UK bow down to the financial sector in due course, although this may well be after the general election.
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