Hard Times On the Thames

"They're not going to be kept in the manner they have become accustomed to," he said. "And that's good."

He said he never understood what the bankers actually did, but it never seemed quite fair that they were earning such fantastic amounts.

While many agreed, others said that less money washing around the financial district means less profit for their small businesses.

At the Chiltern Flowers shop, owner Bella Patel said that when bankers received their annual bonuses, she was flooded with orders.

She said one customer bought a bouquet of 100 roses for 500 pounds, or about $860. Now, she said, typical orders are $50 or $60.

"Things are changing, and it's going to get tougher," she said.

Geoff Smith, a former banker who works in a law firm that advises banks, said he thought that bankers were enduring a harsh "15 minutes of fame" that would eventually fade.

"I don't think the stigma will last long," Smith said. "You don't want greedy bankers, but you don't want banks going down, either."

Stuart Fraser, a top policy official for the city of London, said about 400,000 people work in the financial district. He said about 40,000 lost jobs in the dot-com crash almost a decade ago. Many people expect more jobs to be lost this time.

In an interview, Fraser said London's financial scene would be sharply altered by the crisis. He said bonuses would be "dramatically less." He worried that too much new regulation in London could trigger a "talent drain" to rising financial centers such as Singapore and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

"Clearly, the size of the industry is going to shrink," Fraser said. "Many of the products just won't exist anymore. Bankers will be taking less risk and getting less return."

And many of them will be getting new jobs.