Wall Street's Fading Glory?

I was perusing my usual news sites and ran across this depressing article on foxnews.com. The gist of it is that New York is losing its luster as the financial capital of the world. Now, people have been talking about this for months once we realized the economy was going down the toilet. It's depressing, but not surprising. I guess there is a grain of truth to this as the independent investment banks fade away or become absorbed by their commercial bank counterparts.And as if that weren't bad enough, the Associated Press uses the word "decimated" to describe Wall Street once the layoffs pick up steam.

But some analysts believe we haven't seen the end of old Wall Street. One TowerGroup analyst said that this is only a temporary detour to keep themselves afloat and that one day, the investment banks will free themselves of the shackles of their commercial bank overlords--OK, that last part was mine, but that was the basic idea of the Tower expert's sentiment. Another analyst I spoke to recently from Financial Insights also said not to discount the old freewheeling days. She said no matter how much the government and regulatory agencies tighten their hold over the financial industry, there will always be a few loose cannons on the investment banking side who will somehow find a way to bend the rules so they can develop and sell exotic financial products.

So, will being listed on the NYSE become passé? Will the tough New York stockbrokers become an endangered species? Who knows? But as the author of the Fox News article said, the tourists, at least, continue to flock to the NYSE with their cameras. Somehow, the NASDAQ just doesn't have that same photo appeal.

New York has been sharing the stage to some degree with the likes of London for years. But as other regions of the world grow in financial prominence, what happens to New York? Is New York through as the world's financial capital? What do you think?