Two years ago, bankers and policymakers were arguing heatedly over whether New York or London was the world's premier financial centre. Amid the post-crisis rubble that covers both cities, those arguments now look terribly passé.

Financial services will still bring good jobs, revenues and vitality to cities that can attract them. Moreover, history shows that great financial centres confer significant global influence on the countries where they are located. Competition among these business hubs will thus remain intense.

Once the global recovery begins, however, New York and London might be vying less with one another than with a new competitor in the form of a partnership between Hong Kong and Shanghai – call it “Shangkong” – a highly consequential shift of financial gravity to the east.