Europe's foolhardy competition for the new London

European cities are vying to become the next center of high finance. They should be careful what they wish for.

London.
(Image credit: Illustrated | QQ7/iStock, viafilms/iStock)

The City of London has long been the European Union's Wall Street. But Britain's impending divorce from the Continent has put the country's dominant financial sector in jeopardy. Major banks and firms are either fleeing or threatening to flee, and other major cities throughout Europe are eager to offer them a new home.

But the rest of Europe should be careful what they wish for. The virtues of London finance comes with a lot of vices.

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Jeff Spross

Jeff Spross was the economics and business correspondent at TheWeek.com. He was previously a reporter at ThinkProgress.