NEW YORK (Reuters) – As Wall Street suffers through its worst slump in memory, New York City risks tarnishing its image as the city that drives America.
Waiting to fill the gap is Washington, home to a popular president and a Congress whose mood matches that of a public angry at Wall Street for losing people's retirement savings while doling out executive bonuses and raking in billions from taxpayer-funded bailouts.
The U.S. capital is more used to being viewed as the rather dull seat of government.
"There is a shifting of power and influence at the moment from Manhattan to Washington. The same thing happened during other financial crises in our history but most especially in the 1930s," said Kenneth T. Jackson, a Columbia University historian.
Jess Varughese, managing partner of financial services consultant Milestone, said Wall Street is worried about seeing its influence drift away while executives are demonized.
"It's something that we're all talking about every time we sit down with our industry counterparts and share a glass of wine or a cup of coffee,"
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