Spent three great days in London. Just like the last couple of times before that, the weather was sunny and warm. It was easy to forget how far north London is compared to say New York, although spending a day on Gavin’s ship for an AMEE offsite provided a reminder with a huge change between high tide and low tide. I was told by the AMEE team that the mild climate in the southern UK is largely due to the Gulf stream. And apparently I have also been very lucky with my visits - as on my only London taxi ride the driver complained that it rained a lot in July and August. As far as casual observation of the economy goes, the center of London seems busy but not quite as much as before the financial crisis. For instance at a popular breakfast place this morning there were quite a few tables available. Hotel rates also seem a bit more reasonable with a ton of good last minute deals available. As the Covestor team pointed out, much like in New York, there is a real bifurcation between folks who lost their jobs and are really struggling and those who are employed and can ride out the real estate market. The UK is headed for elections next year and much of the news was taken up by the Labour party’s conference and the challenges to Gordon Brown. Although I was surprised to see all of that trumped, much like it would be in the US, by a story about police indifference that resulted in a murder-suicide. It seemed to be emblematic though of a kind of a fatigue with the existing government that would seem to make a change likely. Like Germany, I find it a bit perplexing that the parties on the left, which I would have thought would benefit from the economic difficulties, are in fact slipping. Clearly what seems to matter more is whether a party is in power or in the opposition when bad things happen!
