London had become ‘ruined’ by 1991 because the money had run out. A new way to bring money in was then found, no longer through the tribute of unfair terms of trade, but by becoming the supreme financial juggler for the world. The 1986 Big Bang of the City of London was born out of the ruins. The Big Bang was shorthand for deregulation, initiated so that enormous profits could be made – profits large enough to emulate the tribute of the past. For the following twenty-two years, the City laid golden eggs for the British (or rather, the southern English) until, in 2008, the banks fell apart and
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