London Sites and Microeconomics History: Bridging the Financial District of London to Other Areas Term Paper

Holborn Viaduct

The statues that can be seen on Holborn Viaduct, while bearing the symbols of greed and the sins that come along with it, also embody the era of commerce in Britain. First and most obvious, the fact that the viaduct bridges the financial district of London to its other areas needs to be mentioned. Thus, the viaduct can be viewed as a metaphorical element that connects the suburban life of the city with its business-related activities.¹

Furthermore, the viaduct can be interpreted as an economic improvement for the state infrastructure. Apart from connecting the business part of the city and that which is suburban metaphorically, it also provides a physical link between the two parts of the city. Thus, the viaduct can be considered an essential element of the microeconomic relationships between the representatives of the city.

Also, the bridge increased the rate of development of the city infrastructure to a considerable extent. While the road used to be flooded with carriages before the bridge was constructed, the viaduct incorporated an over- and an underpass, thus providing a flyover for the railroad. The names are given the statues upon which the bridge rests, with such titles as the Statue of Agriculture, the Statue of Commerce, and more in a similar vein, cement the idea of the bridge as the representation of the economic growth that the city has been witnessing over the past few decades.²

There is no need to stress that the development of the city infrastructure caused an increase in the intensity of trade relationships. After the viaduct had been designed, different mechanisms of London’s business environment were finally connected, allowing the supply chain to emerge and evolve successfully.

Corner of Cock Lane and Giltspur Street

The Golden Boy of Pye Corner is, perhaps, one of the most iconic elements of the city. The statue is typically associated with the Great Fire that engulfed London in 1666, causing economic devastation. Although the statue is typically viewed as the embodiment of a general cautionary message about the threat of carelessness it is supposed to point out a very specific sin. According to the inscription on the statue, the latter is supposed to signify a warning and a protest against gluttony.³

The reasoning behind the assumption that the Great Fire was caused by the greed and the gluttony of the London residents is quite peculiar. The people advocating for this explanation of the fire drew parallels between possible locations and the sins that might have caused the damage. For instance, it was deduced that, if the fire had been started on Drury Lane, lechery would have been to blame for the tragic event.

If the accident had occurred in halls of Westminster or within the City, hypocrisy and lies would have been the main reasons for the fire to start.⁴ Therefore, since the accident happened in the area between Pudding Lane and Pye Corner, gluttony and greed were said to have been the factors that triggered the fire. Thus, the link between the negative and unethical characteristics of capitalism, such as possible self-centeredness, striving to gain a financial profit, etc., were linked to the fire and, therefore, treated with contempt.

It could be argued that the fire significantly delayed the development of capitalist relationships in the state. However, after a more thorough scrutiny of the issue, one would have to admit that people were not yet ready for the enhancement of economic relationships based on the concept of free trade. The fact that the residents of London, including those who were engaged in economic relationships, were ready to sacrifice a prospective direction for the development of the state economy for the sake of their prejudice and superstition, was a clear sign that people were not yet able to accept capitalist market principles.

Postman’s Park

Postman’s Park is a very special place in London not only because of the beauty of the site but also due to the ideas and events that it signifies. The park is located where the General Post Office of London used to stand. While the name of the site is linked directly to a very specific service, the people it was built to commemorate have very little to do with mail delivery. According to the initial intent of the designers and the founders of the park, the memorial bearing the names of people who sacrificed their own lives in an attempt to save others is the main attraction and the focus of the park.

In other words, the park is known mostly for the idea of commemorating acts of heroism performed by ordinary people. The memorial that stands in the very heart of the park does not allow shifting the focus of the audience’s attention to any other element. Though rather simple and very sentimental, the idea of remembering people for the good that they did reminds the visitors of the essential ethical values that the members of the modern community need to uphold.⁵

One might argue that there is a considerable dissonance within the philosophy of microeconomics, which puts the needs of an individual before those of society as a whole, thus encouraging people to be rather egotistic in their actions and intents. However, the idea of maximizing utility, which lies at the core of the microeconomic philosophy, can also be interpreted as the call for taking such actions as can be deemed the most beneficial to the society. In this case, the idea of self-sacrifice as a means of safeguarding the wellbeing of the rest of the people seems understandable. Therefore, the ideas that the memorial embodies can coexist with the tenets of the philosophy of microeconomics by which the London market is guided.⁶

Guildhall

Guildhall is among the key attractions of London for a reason. The building warrants its title, having been viewed as the main administrative building of London for several centuries running⁷. The interior of the building is truly amazing, with the heritage of the Roman and Saxon cultures incorporated into every element of its architecture. The fact that the place, as the center of the state’s economic transactions, made the members thereof a substitute for the Parliament needs to be brought up as one of the reasons to view the Guildhall as an integral part of British history.

In fact, after the spurring of the economic development of Great Britain, guilds were considered a crucial part of the state’s functioning. Therefore, their function had a significant impact on the choices made in the political environment, including both domestic and foreign policies. By definition, a guild in the context of the British Empire of the medieval era could be defined as the cooperation between merchants. The associations had a significant impact on the home economy since they controlled an array of activities related to the production of goods, as well as trade-related processes.⁸

However, to say that guilds were completely independent of any other power would be an overstatement. While enjoying impressive freedom in the choice of the strategies that they could use in the trade process, the members of the guilds were supported extensively by local authorities and even the royal family. Even though the financial investments made by the authorities and the monarch were extensive, it is commonly believed that the evolution of guilds paved the way for the development of free trade principles in British society.

It should be noted, though, that some scholars tend to view guilds as monopolies that controlled the market completely, and thus, only stifled any entrepreneurial activities that could emerge in the identified environment. Nevertheless, the power of guilds can be deemed impressive, and they have left a mark on the economic development of Great Britain.⁹

Five Fleet Place Building 14 Farringdon Street

Caroone House at 5 Fleet Place, 14 Farringdon Street, is barely noticeable due to its unsophisticated design. However, the humble plaque that hangs upon its wall points to the fact that the building has witnessed some of the most important events in British history, the founding of the Labor Party is one of them. The famous Labor Party plaque that marks the birth of a new movement hangs on the wall of the Caroone House, signifying that a new leaf was turned over in the history of British political life at this very location over a hundred years ago.

However, it would be wrong to claim that the name of the party was coined at the Caroone House in 1900. Although the Labor Party often traces its origins back to the specified date, the plaque is supposed to mark the establishment of the Labor Representation Committee. The latter, in its turn, served as the precursor for the Labor Party’s later emergence in the political environment of Great Britain. The Committee, on the other hand, could not be defined as a party, per se, and instead was supposed to represent the needs and demands of the working class representatives.¹⁰

The Labor Representation Committee, therefore, was comprised of several trade unions and similar socialist organizations that were at the helm of the movement at the time. The role of the Committee was initially restricted to making sure that workers should receive an opportunity to vote (i.e., registering them as people eligible for casting a vote in the elections), as well as that qualified members, should return to Parliament.¹¹ However, as the organization grew larger, its scope, goals, vision, and responsibilities expanded.

The outcomes of the event were predictable; with the growing influence of the Labor Representation Committee, the prerequisites for change were created in the economic and political environment of the state so that the needs of the working class could be taken into consideration. Commemorating the event, the plaque on the wall of Caroone House at Five Fleet Place 14, Farringdon Street, is part and parcel of British history.

Bibliography

“A Shining Example of Gluttony.” Hidden London. Web.

Burton, John R. “The Earlier Seventeenth Century.” Year’s Work in English Studies 1, no. 1 (2015), 1-5.

Glinert, Ed. The London Compendium. London: Penguin UK, 2012.

“Guildhall.” Medieval London. Web.

Hebbert, Michael. “Crossrail: The Slow Route to London’s Regional Express Railway.” TPR 85, no. 2 (2014): 171-190.

Jakob Brochner Madsen, Human Accomplishment and Growth in Britain since 1270: The Role of Great Scientists and Education. Web.

Metcalfe, Robyn S. Meat, Commerce and the City: The London Food Market, 1800–1855. New York, NY: Routledge, 2015.

Price, John. Heroes of Postman’s Park: Heroic Self-Sacrifice in Victorian London. London, UK: The History Press, 2015.

Saunders, Graham. Patrick Marber’s Closer. New York, NY: A&C Black, 2013.

Wilcox, Paul. “Fabian and Guild Socialists Reaction to World War I,” Crescat Scientia: Journal of Business 11, no. 15 (2014), 139-160.

Footnotes

1. Michael Hebbert, “Crossrail: The Slow Route to London’s Regional Express Railway,” TPR 85, no. 2 (2014): 174.
2. Robyn S Metcalfe, Meat, Commerce and the City: The London Food Market, 1800–1855 (New York, NY: Routledge, 2015), p. 241.
3. “A Shining Example of Gluttony,” Hidden London. Web.
4. John R. Burton, “The Earlier Seventeenth Century,” Year’s Work in English Studies 1, no. 1 (2015), 4.
5. Graham Saunders, Patrick Marber’s Closer (New York, NY: A&C Black, 2013), 86.
6. John Price, Heroes of Postman’s Park: Heroic Self-Sacrifice in Victorian London (London, UK: The History Press, 2015), 11.
7. “Guildhall,” Medieval London. Web.
8. Jakob Brochner Madsen, Human Accomplishment and Growth in Britain since 1270: The Role of Great Scientists and Education. Web.
9. Paul Wilcox, “Fabian and Guild Socialists Reaction to World War I,” Crescat Scientia: Jpournal of Business 11, no. 15 (2014), 141.
10. Ed Glinert, The London Compendium (London: Penguin UK, 2012), 121.
11. Ibid.