Over the course of what was an astonishingly brief period of time, the centre of gravity of the world’s economy had inexorably moved eastwards; it was nothing less than a seismic shift. What would happen to London and New York as cities like Moscow and Bangkok grew and prospered?
For Tom Barton it was a no-brainer: very few rich would want to pass their lives in such cities; business was one thing, but security and comfort came first. Few were attracted by the sweltering heat of South East Asia, or the glacial winters of Moscow, not to speak of insecurity: be it financial, political or criminal related. London, Paris or New York would be hard to beat, perhaps Berlin or Vienna, but the idea of Beijing or Hong Kong was illusory, for the Chinese it was fine, but the past had shown the British Empire’s administrators or creators of wealth rarely ended their days surrounded by the thronging crowds of Asia, unless by an untimely sickly or bloody end.
Barton did not believe rich foreigners would swarm to Stockholm or Oslo, though Zurich held a certain charm, as for Toronto or Tokyo they attracted specific kinds of people: in search of a new life in the case of the former, or very specific business opportunities for the latter. As for Beijing, Shanghai or Singapore, over the long term they were for Chinese, as Moscow was for Russians. To his mind it would remain so unless there some dramatic and unforeseen event occurred.
A safe haven was above all a place where the nouveaux-riches could be assured of the safety of their recently acquired wealth, and very naturally, their own well-being and that of their families. London offered all that and more; barring a revolution nothing was about to change there.
There was of course another advantage: the English language, a national treasure, the magic key to global communication. With whom could one speak Chinese, who would want to learn Arabic, Russian or even the language of Goethe? Some learnt French, a culturally desirable language, but it was not the language of business or finance, though Paris, Monaco and certain towns like Biarritz and Monte-Carlo - an hour’s flight from London, offered highly desirable life styles and places of residence for the rich. Others liked the idea of owning a Bordeaux wine producing château and why not a place in the French Alps for skiing?