The CEBR, a consultancy that tracks the London economy, reckons City-type jobs (including in business services linked to finance) will fall by 27, 000 this year to around 288, 000, almost a fifth below their pre-crisis peak.

ECONOMIST: London as a financial centre

Barton Smith, the director of the Institute for Regional Forecasting at the University of Houston, reckons that it is no wonder the city is on the back foot.

ECONOMIST: The coming shortfall in America��s fourth-largest city

Still, Darren Sanders, the Lib Dem candidate and a city councillor, reckons his leader's strong TV performance has turned Portsmouth North into a genuine three-horse race.

ECONOMIST: The defence vote in Portsmouth: England expects | The

But Miss Velazquez, who is awaiting the decision of the governor of New York on the matter, reckons that in her polyglot city immigration is an issue with enduring appeal.

ECONOMIST: Redistricting

He reckons that some 20% of the city's middle class now lives in the northern cone.

ECONOMIST: A middle class amid the shanties

Other cities have experimented Bristol, for instance, offers wireless access in the city centre, and Norwich ran a trial between 2006 and 2008 but Swindon reckons it is the first to offer free access throughout the borough.

ECONOMIST: Municipal Wi-Fi

He also reckons that increased economic activity in the host city has come at the rest of the country's expense.

ECONOMIST: Britain's Olympic bid

West Brom's back-to-back home wins over Tottenham and Manchester City last month dragged them back towards the pack at the foot of the Premier League table, and Greening reckons it is their form at the Hawthorns that will determine whether they can survive.

BBC: West Brom can stay up - Greening