In a 21-year career in the City of London, Philip Augar, author of The Death of Gentlemanly Capitalism, got to the top of Schroders and made a fortune. But he has a concern for social justice. He believes that 'the money paid to brokers is a social and moral disgrace', a sentiment that we should all share. An average, youngish broker can make more than a leading heart specialist, which is indefensible. It is just one consequence of the huge growth in investment banking since Big Bang in 1986.

More worrying for the City's future is the near total disappearance in the past five years of its once unique and prestigious merchant banks. One by one they have sold out, unable or unwilling to survive in the fiercely competitive world of global investment banking dominated by the Americans. Of the top 10 investment banks today, six are US-controlled, two German and two Swiss.